# Laser Drift: reconstructing Carrera infrared slot-car control

> Laser Drift emulates the infrared controllers of Carrera Digital 132/124 slot cars. A Python game loop synchronizes with the IR tower, encodes player state into controller packets and accepts speed and lane-change commands from a TCP server.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Protocol
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-08
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-09
- Original resource: <https://github.com/buntine/laser-drift>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/buntine/laser-drift/blob/6fca9944d6feb1a7505e203ab3eee7a1fe188716/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/laser-drift-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/laser-drift-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/laser-drift-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Carrera Digital 132/124 track, control unit, wireless receiver and a USB infrared transceiver.
- **Prerequisites:** Linux, Python 3 and lirc 0.10 or later.
- **Limits:** Only older infrared controllers are emulated; 2.4 GHz wireless controllers are unsupported.
- **License:** MIT License.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/buntine/laser-drift/blob/6fca9944d6feb1a7505e203ab3eee7a1fe188716/README.md>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.