Calibration

LoDi-Aura doesn't work with speed step tables that you maintain by hand – it measures for itself: the lengths of your track and the speed of your locos at every speed step. The more accurate these values are, the more accurately your trains stop. This page explains the four measuring methods, when to use which, and how to view and edit the speed curves.

The four methods at a glance

Calibration covers four different things that are easily mixed up. Here they are side by side:

On top of that there is the brake correction for each loco – the quickest fix when the stop is just a few centimetres off. It is described under Locos, cars and trains.

Which method for what?

• With a LoDi-TrainSpeed you calibrate the loco. This speed curve is the most accurate one and at the same time the independent reference for the calibration run.
• Without a measuring device, the measuring run records the loco's speed curve. It calculates the speed from the block lengths – if the lengths are wrong, the speed curve is wrong too.
• Learning then refines each train's speed curve during operation.
• A train with no speed curve at all runs cautiously in automation until its loco has been calibrated or has completed the measuring run.

Calibration run: the track measures itself

During the calibration run, a calibration loco runs over the layout, and LoDi-Aura uses the sensor reports to work out the lengths of your blocks and connections. You see a running average for each section and apply it to the track plan one at a time or all at once.

Requirements

• Feedback modules in every block.
• The calibration loco is calibrated – its speed curve in km/h per speed step is the reference, independent of the block lengths.
• One or two reference blocks in the plan, measured by hand. The run uses them to calibrate itself (load and friction of your layout).
• The calibration loco runs alone: uncouple the cars. Reversing is allowed.

Starting the calibration run

1. Open the panelIn the track plan toolbar, click “🧰 Tools” › “📏 Calibration run”. With “🗗” you open the panel as a separate window that stays open.
2. Choose the calibration locoUnder “Calibration loco” you'll find your trains with their reference and the loco length. Trains without a speed curve or with “Loco length missing!” are locked.
3. Choose the calibration speedUnder “Calibration speed” you choose a fixed speed step for the whole run. LoDi-Aura suggests a step of around 25 cm/s; it doesn't offer steps above 40 cm/s.
4. Coverage tourWith “🧭 Coverage tour (Automation drives all of it)”, LoDi-Aura itself picks the blocks that still need a length measurement or RailCom calibration, and reports the summary at the end. Only then can you also tick “🚧 dead-end tracks too (RC only — length stays hand-measured)”.
5. StartClick “▶ Start”. A prompt reminds you to uncouple the cars.

If you don't choose a calibration speed, you drive the calibration loco yourself with the throttle.

Reading and applying the measurements

During the run, the panel shows for each block and connection the measured average (“measured Ø”), the value in the plan and the deviation. The symbols mean:

• ✓ confirmed – plan and measurement match within ±10 %.
• ⚠ – the deviation is more than 10 %.
• ⏳ – fewer than three measurements so far.
• 📐 reference – hand-measured, never replaced automatically.

Only block lengths are applied. The panel shows turnout fields and track pieces without a block for comparison; if measurement and drawing disagree there, check in the track plan whether a piece of track is missing, there's one too many, or a turnout dimension is wrong. LoDi-Aura only replaces a value measured by hand after asking you; the block is then no longer a reference. Dead-end tracks are only calibrated via RailCom – their length can't be measured there and stays the hand measurement.

Calibrating with the LoDi-TrainSpeed

The calibration assistant records the speed curve of a single loco. The loco shuttles back and forth through the measuring gate of the LoDi-TrainSpeed by itself. Each marked speed step is measured there and back and stored separately for forwards and reverse. The assistant opens its own window and can run during operation. How to connect the TrainSpeed is described under Setting up LoDi-TrainSpeed.

In the window you set what is measured. Below the grid, LoDi-Aura tells you how many passes that makes and roughly how long it will take.

1. PrepareUncouple the cars. Make sure there is enough run-out to the left and right of the measuring gate. For calibration, set the acceleration and braking delay in the decoder (CV 3 and CV 4) to 0 if possible.
2. Open the windowChoose the loco under “Vehicles” › “Locomotives” and click “🎯 Calibrate” under “Driving behavior”.
3. Loco onto the measuring trackShunt the loco up to the measuring gate with ◀◀ and ▶▶.
4. Choose steps and orderMark the speed steps and choose the measuring order.
5. StartClick “▶ Start calibration”. From now on, the automation drives the loco.
6. WatchThe window shows the current speed step and direction in large type, below it each pass with its value, and the curve builds up with each measurement. If the loco runs the wrong way, click “Flip direction” – without waiting for the timeout. “Cancel — stop the loco” ends the calibration.
7. DoneAt the end it says “Done — speed curve written.” “New calibration” starts again from the beginning.

If you cancel the calibration, LoDi-Aura applies what has already been measured to the loco's speed curve.

Measuring run: without a measuring device

The measuring run is for a loco without a speed curve. It runs alone over the layout and holds one speed step after another until each has been measured twice with matching results over a block. It runs through stations; block and station speeds don't count, the layout speed remains the limit. The result is the loco's speed curve – the starting value for every train it later runs in.

The measuring run calculates the speed from the block lengths of your layout. If the lengths are wrong, the speed curve is wrong too – measure the lengths again beforehand.

1. Create a train with just the locoUnder “Vehicles” › “Trains”, create a train that consists of only this loco – no cars, no second loco.
2. Put it on the trackPut the train on the track in the track plan. It must be standing still.
3. StartIn the locomotive profile under “Driving behavior”, click “🏁 Start measuring run” – or click the train in the track plan and choose “⏱ Measuring run” in the train menu.

LoDi-Aura switches the train to automation by itself and sets off. It takes the speed steps in a fixed order, the ladder: based on 28 steps, 7, 10, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28, then down again 6, 4, 2. In H0 and N, a small creep step is added at the start. With 128 speed steps, the steps are converted; the message at the start tells you exactly which ones. If the prediction for a step is above the layout speed, that step and all higher ones are dropped. A step without a clean pair of measurements after four attempts is skipped. Diverging turnouts and the shunting speed still apply.

You can stop at any time: with “⏹ Stop measuring run” in the locomotive profile or “⏱ Stop measuring run” in the train menu. Whatever has been measured by then goes into the loco's speed curve – the same happens if you stop the train, take over with the handheld throttle or set it to “✋ Manual” or “🚦 Interlocking”. When the ladder is complete, LoDi-Aura stops the loco and switches automation off. After that, the train keeps learning during operation.

• The measuring run doesn't reverse: it measures the direction in which the loco is travelling.
• You need the permission to drive (see Settings).
• There is no measuring run in the simplified dry run. In the exact dry run it runs, but writes nothing to the loco.
• If you switch project or simulation, the measuring run is discarded without applying anything. After restarting the program it is off.
• You create the train with just the one loco yourself.

Learning during operation

The train keeps learning its speed curve during normal driving – without a measuring device and without shuttling. With the “Learning active” tick box on the train, it measures the remaining steps as it goes. It builds on the loco's speed curve, whether that came from the measuring device or from the measuring run. Without the tick, the speed curve stays as it is.

You'll find the tick box under “Vehicles” › “Trains” › choose the train › “Train control”. Without a LoDi-TrainSpeed: first the measuring run, then learning.

Viewing the learned speed curve

Under “Speed curve (learned)”, the train form shows the curve the train runs by, and a status line showing how far along it is.

In the graph, the smoothed curve is the one LoDi-Aura drives by. A speed curve rises; LoDi-Aura weighs individual outliers against their neighbours. You can remove individual speed steps from the speed curve or set their value by hand – such a value then counts as not measured. “Reset speed curve” deletes the learned curve; the train then measures afresh.

The loco's speed curve

In the locomotive profile under “Driving behavior”, you see the loco's speed curve as a graph, forwards and reverse. Next to it, it says where it came from: “measuring device”, “Measuring run”, “import”, “learned via the train” or “manual entry” – or “not calibrated”. “Table” expands the values for each speed step.

Both buttons only appear if you have the permission to edit.