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My friend and I used to discuss a similar question: given a fixed set of curved Duplo tracks, how many different looped track layouts can you generate? Straigh
by po 3y ago
My friend and I used to discuss a similar question: given a fixed set of curved Duplo tracks, how many different looped track layouts can you generate?
Straight sections are mostly ignorable since you can always add them in pairs on opposite sides of the loop if they are parallel. (although there are some interesting triangle-shapes that can be made that break that pattern)
My friend even went so far as to code up a solver for it which mostly worked and generated some interesting layouts. We never got around to adding switches into it.
It eventually led us to the math behind necklace problems because it was often hard to tell if 2 track layouts were identical: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklace_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklace_problem
- bombcar 3y agoI don't know if Bluebrick supports duplo, but it's a track layout program for Lego track: https://mattzobricks.com/lego-track-planning/bluebrick https://mattzobricks.com/lego-track-planning/bluebrick
- xattt 3y agoThere is indeed a Duplo package!
- po 3y agoYes, I've seen this as well! Thanks for the link. As my kids got older, we upgraded to Lego system track and I was initially very disappointed in it. The math for Lego track is quite different and there is something very satisfying about the Duplo system. The key difference is that switches in Duplo are equivalent to two oppositely curved tracks overlaid on each other. This means you can pop a switch in anywhere that there is a curve piece. In the Lego system track, it is a straight piece with a curve out and back in slightly. If you place two switches together you can connect two parallel tracks, but it has the disadvantage of being harder to place (you end up needing substantial straight sections to use switches)
- bombcar 3y agoThere are a number of third party companies that are filling the missing links (literally) for Lego track geometry. It can be worth investing in - I’ve always been annoyed that the Lego switches are clearly for sidings and yards and not for loops.
- amenghra 3y agohttps://blog.jgc.org/2010/01/more-fun-with-toys-ikea-lillabo-train.html https://blog.jgc.org/2010/01/more-fun-with-toys-ikea-lillabo... looked into building different tracks with a single ikea train set.
- phreeza 3y agoToo bad the images seem to be gone?
- amenghra 3y agoFirst two pictures: http://images.clipartpanda.com/straight-train-track-Picture-27-797636.png http://images.clipartpanda.com/straight-train-track-Picture-... And: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/picture-29-707628.png https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/picture-29... No idea what the 3rd picture was. Processing code is here: https://blog.jgc.org/2010/01/ikea-lillabo-processing-code.html https://blog.jgc.org/2010/01/ikea-lillabo-processing-code.ht...
- mkl 3y agoNot only are the images gone, archive.org tells me "Sorry. This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."
- lostlogin 3y agoThe idea that playing trains with the kids ended up this far down the rabbit hole is very funny.
- ethbr1 3y agoThere has to be an internet law somewhere that any fun hobby can be obsessively following into madness. Relevant: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTJQTc-TqpU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTJQTc-TqpU
- webnrrd2k 3y agoThere is a fine line between a hobby and a mental illness. I mention that to people more often than most would think.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- KineticLensman 3y agoI find that people prefer ‘fine line between hobby and insanity’. (I also use this line a lot and suspect its self-applicable)
- po 3y agoThis is what happens when two nerd-dads with the same age kids go out for drinks every week.