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Overview

MärklinSim is a software simulation of a Märklin train set. It accepts train set commands through a TCP port or a Unix domain socket, instead of serial I/O which the real Märklin train controller uses.

The default setup is a copy of the ones in UWaterloo MC3018 (aka the train lab).

If you are taking CS 452, this project should only be used as a reference when the track set is not available. You should always test your program on an actual hardware.

Demo

Click the following image to watch the video.

Get started

MärklinSim is based on Electron, therefore it is cross-platform naturally.

You need to install Node.js before using MärklinSim. Node v8.x.x is recommended.

Run npm install at the root directory of this project once you have a Node environment.

Run npm run compile-main at the root directory of this project to compile TypeScript source files.

Run npm run copy-resources at the root directory of this project to copy resource files.

Run ./node_modules/.bin/electron ./dist/main.js to start the program. By default it will listen TCP port 3018.

Use MärklinSim with your train program

In CS 452 at University of Waterloo, the train program runs on a TS7200 ARM box. If your program also does so, you can either run your program on QEMU, or redirect the UART communication of your ARM box to a TCP port.

Here I will give an example of using QEMU with MärklinSim. First, run MärklinSim. Then run QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -m 128M -nographic -nodefaults -serial tcp:127.0.0.1:3018 -serial stdio -kernel ./YOUR_PROGRAM.bin.