Software Programmable Brake N' Release™ MOSFET Braking
What if you were able to dive into a corner incredibly HARD…but the car wouldn’t
come to a virtual standstill before you got back on the throttle? What if you didn’t
have to compromise between making your car easy to drive…and your braking
points? What if you could cruise as if you were driving in an enduro…but turning
laps almost as fast as if you were driving on the hairy edge?
You could, if you had a controller that could engage the brake HARD, then
release it before the car stopped completely...even if the controller trigger were
still in the brake position.
Brake N' Release™ Brake Control - A New Concept in Braking
Conventional electronic and resistor-based controllers weaken a slot car's
brakes to make it more drivable. That's how they prevent the car from slowing
down too much and losing forward momentum before you get back on the
throttle. Since the brakes are weakened, you have to start braking for the corner
earlier to prevent deslots, albeit with overall improved lap times and totals
because the car is easier to drive.
Instead of weakening the car's brakes to maintain forward momentum, Brake N'
Release™ brake circuits control how long the brakes are engaged, always
braking with maximum stopping power but releasing them before the car slows
down too much. With the brakes operating at full strength you can dive deeply into
the corner, but maintain forward momentum because the brakes disengage
before you've gotten back on the throttle. This allows you to out brake your
opponents that are relying on weakened brakes to maintain forward momentum.
The Linear 200's Brake N' Release™ brake control circuit lowers your lap times
by allowing you to dive deep into a corner without sacrificing drivability. Brake
duration is adjusted the same way that you'd adjust brake strength on
conventional controllers and dial positions are printed on the circuit board - Min,
Max and 9 intermediate positions to facilitate repeatable, rapid set up. The
duration can be set from milliseconds to seconds, with completely-off and
always -on at the pot's Min and Max settings. A brake LED mounted on the power
module turns on for the duration of the brake pulse, simplifying brake setup for
new users.
Software Programmable for the Ultimate in Flexibility
The Linear 200's braking is controlled by software programmed brake control
profile chips, socketed so that users can try completely different brake profiles as
they become available. The chips are highly integrated microcontrollers, software
programmable single-chip computers with analog-to-digital converters and on-
chip timers. They monitor the brake pot and trigger positions, converting the
analog voltages to digital data that can be acted upon by the brake profile
program. The brake profile program calculates the length of the brake pulse, then
loads the timers to create the precision timed brake pulses.
This design approach provides significant benefits to Linear 200 owners. By
plugging in a different brake chip, they can dramatically change the braking
behavior...for example changing the controller brake from Brake N' Release™
brake control to Extended Range PWM, adjusting the brake's strength much like
in a conventional electronic controller.
Current Sensing Circuit Protection For High Performance Brakes
MOSFET brakes are incredibly strong, but they need to be well protected against
mis-wiring and short circuits. Automotive type ATO blade fuses may not always
blow fast enough to protect a MOSFET and PTCs (the resettable fuse used in
many electronic controllers) have a higher resistance than fuses which
increases even more after they have been tripped.
The Linear 200 uses the same MOSFET protection techniques found in high-rel
military and automotive electronics...current sensing control circuits to protect
against shorts and polarity protection to protect against mis-wiring.
Short circuit protection is provided by a fully electronic breaker circuit with
automatic reset. The circuit introduces an on-resistance into the brake line
comparable to a 10-AMP ATO blade fuse and reacts within a few
microseconds…tens of thousands of times faster than the fuse. This is more
than sufficient to protect the MOSFET against the instantaneous surges of
hundreds of amps that high-amp-output power supplies can put out before their
own current limiting safety circuits kick in.
It has a much lower resistance than the PTCs used in other electronic controllers
with the most important difference being that it’s on-resistance will not change
after the circuit breaker has been tripped. By comparison, not only is a PTC's on-
resistance is much higher than this circuit initially (about 5 times higher, at least),
it increases after it's been tripped and reset (not returning to it's original value).
The electronic breaker uses a high precision current-sensing resistor in the
brake path, whose value doesn’t change. The voltage drop across the resistor is
monitored…and if it exceeds a predetermined amount, the brake MOSFET is
shut off. The retry duty cycle is short enough that the MOSFET does not heat up
appreciably even if the duration of the shorted condition exceeds several minutes.
The circuit also includes a reverse polarity protection MOSFET in the brake line to
protect the controller if the brake wire is connected to the white power post. This
MOSFET acts like a "perfect" diode, blocking current flow in one direction without
introducing the 0.7V diode drop in the forward direction that would hurt braking
performance. The combined on-resistance of ALL of the components in the
brake path, including the brake FET and all circuit protection components, is less
than 13 milliohms…far less than the on-resistance of a PTC alone.
The benefit to you is that you’ll have a controller with incredibly strong brakes, no
pesky brake fuses to replace, and brakes that will not deteriorate due to an
increase in PTC resistance or dirty brake contacts.
What if you were able to dive into a corner incredibly HARD…but the car wouldn’t
come to a virtual standstill before you got back on the throttle? What if you didn’t
have to compromise between making your car easy to drive…and your braking
points? What if you could cruise as if you were driving in an enduro…but turning
laps almost as fast as if you were driving on the hairy edge?
You could, if you had a controller that could engage the brake HARD, then
release it before the car stopped completely...even if the controller trigger were
still in the brake position.
Brake N' Release™ Brake Control - A New Concept in Braking
Conventional electronic and resistor-based controllers weaken a slot car's
brakes to make it more drivable. That's how they prevent the car from slowing
down too much and losing forward momentum before you get back on the
throttle. Since the brakes are weakened, you have to start braking for the corner
earlier to prevent deslots, albeit with overall improved lap times and totals
because the car is easier to drive.
Instead of weakening the car's brakes to maintain forward momentum, Brake N'
Release™ brake circuits control how long the brakes are engaged, always
braking with maximum stopping power but releasing them before the car slows
down too much. With the brakes operating at full strength you can dive deeply into
the corner, but maintain forward momentum because the brakes disengage
before you've gotten back on the throttle. This allows you to out brake your
opponents that are relying on weakened brakes to maintain forward momentum.
The Linear 200's Brake N' Release™ brake control circuit lowers your lap times
by allowing you to dive deep into a corner without sacrificing drivability. Brake
duration is adjusted the same way that you'd adjust brake strength on
conventional controllers and dial positions are printed on the circuit board - Min,
Max and 9 intermediate positions to facilitate repeatable, rapid set up. The
duration can be set from milliseconds to seconds, with completely-off and
always -on at the pot's Min and Max settings. A brake LED mounted on the power
module turns on for the duration of the brake pulse, simplifying brake setup for
new users.
Software Programmable for the Ultimate in Flexibility
The Linear 200's braking is controlled by software programmed brake control
profile chips, socketed so that users can try completely different brake profiles as
they become available. The chips are highly integrated microcontrollers, software
programmable single-chip computers with analog-to-digital converters and on-
chip timers. They monitor the brake pot and trigger positions, converting the
analog voltages to digital data that can be acted upon by the brake profile
program. The brake profile program calculates the length of the brake pulse, then
loads the timers to create the precision timed brake pulses.
This design approach provides significant benefits to Linear 200 owners. By
plugging in a different brake chip, they can dramatically change the braking
behavior...for example changing the controller brake from Brake N' Release™
brake control to Extended Range PWM, adjusting the brake's strength much like
in a conventional electronic controller.
Current Sensing Circuit Protection For High Performance Brakes
MOSFET brakes are incredibly strong, but they need to be well protected against
mis-wiring and short circuits. Automotive type ATO blade fuses may not always
blow fast enough to protect a MOSFET and PTCs (the resettable fuse used in
many electronic controllers) have a higher resistance than fuses which
increases even more after they have been tripped.
The Linear 200 uses the same MOSFET protection techniques found in high-rel
military and automotive electronics...current sensing control circuits to protect
against shorts and polarity protection to protect against mis-wiring.
Short circuit protection is provided by a fully electronic breaker circuit with
automatic reset. The circuit introduces an on-resistance into the brake line
comparable to a 10-AMP ATO blade fuse and reacts within a few
microseconds…tens of thousands of times faster than the fuse. This is more
than sufficient to protect the MOSFET against the instantaneous surges of
hundreds of amps that high-amp-output power supplies can put out before their
own current limiting safety circuits kick in.
It has a much lower resistance than the PTCs used in other electronic controllers
with the most important difference being that it’s on-resistance will not change
after the circuit breaker has been tripped. By comparison, not only is a PTC's on-
resistance is much higher than this circuit initially (about 5 times higher, at least),
it increases after it's been tripped and reset (not returning to it's original value).
The electronic breaker uses a high precision current-sensing resistor in the
brake path, whose value doesn’t change. The voltage drop across the resistor is
monitored…and if it exceeds a predetermined amount, the brake MOSFET is
shut off. The retry duty cycle is short enough that the MOSFET does not heat up
appreciably even if the duration of the shorted condition exceeds several minutes.
The circuit also includes a reverse polarity protection MOSFET in the brake line to
protect the controller if the brake wire is connected to the white power post. This
MOSFET acts like a "perfect" diode, blocking current flow in one direction without
introducing the 0.7V diode drop in the forward direction that would hurt braking
performance. The combined on-resistance of ALL of the components in the
brake path, including the brake FET and all circuit protection components, is less
than 13 milliohms…far less than the on-resistance of a PTC alone.
The benefit to you is that you’ll have a controller with incredibly strong brakes, no
pesky brake fuses to replace, and brakes that will not deteriorate due to an
increase in PTC resistance or dirty brake contacts.
| Double Check the Controller |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Brake N' Release™ brake pot with calibration
settings
settings
Brake LED simplifies brake
setup
setup
Programmable brake profile
chips convert analog pot
settings to precise timing
pulses
chips convert analog pot
settings to precise timing
pulses
Brake profile chip socket on transistor
power module
power module
Low resistance brake MOSFET with current sense and
reverse polarity protection
reverse polarity protection
Linear 200 Pro 40 Linear Response Controller with
Optional Brake N' Release Brake Profile
Optional Brake N' Release Brake Profile
