T³: Hot Wheels Speed Trap
Adding a chronograph to a Hot Wheels track to measure the speed of passing toy cars.
At the ISTE 2016 conference, one educator told me that he planned to make a timer for Hot Wheels tracks using an Arduino with his class (I apologize, as I do not remember who it was! If you are reading this, please leave a comment so I can give you full credit).
I thought it was a really great classroom project idea, so I wanted to share. Instead of a timer, I constructed a chronograph using the SparkFun Inventor's Kit and an extra photocell. Here's a video showing the project in action:
I would be remiss if I did not post full instructions for building the project. Good news, everyone! They can be found on InventorSpace.
I was honestly surprised to find that Hot Wheels still makes track sets. The particular one I used in the video can be found at Target.
What other nostalgic toys would you want to hack?
