iDCC - Hardware, Software and Marketing of a Usable Digital Command Controller

Abstract

iDCC is the new implement of Digital Command Control (DCC) with a better user interface and a much better user experience compared to the existing DCC controllers on the market. The iDCC project was carried out firstly at 2009 and the proof-of-concept prototype was available at the beginning of this project. The goal of this project is to prepare this prototype for a commercialization through the real-world industry arrangement. This is also a new framework of a Master degree project. The author of this thesis has acted as a project manager and a hardware engineer to work with a 4-member software team and a 2-member marketing team whom all are the students of the University of Waikato. As hardware engineers, the duties were to test the previous prototype and develop a brand new hardware which has more functionality and stability. With the unique scanning technology developed in this project it eliminates the complexity of the model train operation and simplifies the technical format of DCC controllers. The enclosure case also has been designed by the author to meet the market need. The software team developed and tested the firmware to fulfill the concept of iDCC with the author. The market team prepared logos, product names, and advertising materials to achieve the market promotion requirement. The author also acts as the project manager to lead the teams together to achieve the goal. The final product is ready to be released to the market as an entry level DCC controller, and the result of this project also shows that this type of framework is sustainable so that it can be applied in any Master or even Phd level project.