Timer for athletics

[broadband155]

Hi All,

I am a complete beginner. I have had an IOIO for over a year and haven't done anything with it. I have had a requirement for some time which I was thinking about trying with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi but it occured to me that the IOIO might be better.

I want to have a way time my sons in training. They run 60, 80 and 100M sprints. I was thinking of a setup where they could start a program which would;

1. Give them a countdown (marks, set, go)

2. On go, would start the timer

3. At the other end, once they go through a beam, stop the timer.

4. Record the result and reset, ready for the next countdown.

There are lots of possible enhancements but I would try to walk before I run:) 

Hardware wise, I have on old HTC Desire which could sit at the finish line with the IOIO connected. It could do the countdown or just take a wireless signal from a Raspberry Pi to start the clock. I can make up a beam, or buy one easily. I'm not too concerned with absolute accuracy. This is more to allow them to compare times for their own runs. I wouldn't like it to be very inaccurate though as it would put them off in competition.

Does all this sound feasible? Next, does it sound feasible for someone who hasn't coded before? I bought IOIO script already but haven't tried it.

Thanks, Neil.

[JJ]

I wouldn't mind creating the app for you and then writing a tutorial showing how I developed it step for step....we will talk about requirements for the application if you want to get started...no charge...good choice on android...:)....I have done a couple simple apps with the ioio...I'd like to use a proximity sensor with the ioio...this seems like a perfect application for one....let me know if you'd like to get started..
JJ

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[Neil Sutton]

Hi JJ. That's incredibly generous of you. I would be happy to take you up on that offer. What do you need to know first?

Thanks, Neil.

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[Banibrata Dutta]

Very interesting, and indeed, very generous offer. Hope that you guys opensource your work.

Proximity sensor could be good, provided there is no other large-enough object that could confuse the sensor, and that you are okay with the 30% beam spread that most such sensors have. The better bet could be a simple trip-wire arrangement... say a waist level ribbon, like they do in group races. Simple, effective and absolute measurement. The only other beam-technology that might be accurate and work in open, would be laser beam/sensor pair... bumping up the cost.

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Banibrata
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bdutta
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[broadband155]

I would be happy to consider any trigger arrangement that works. I have used an IR beam in the past which was from a safety mechanism for a motorised gate. I am interested to hear what proximity sensor JJ has in mind. I am happy to open source what we work on. JJ?

[JJ]

Hi,

Id figure the proximity sensor may not be that accurate, so I found a
laser that can be interfaced with the ioio. The following website is
where ill get the laser from :

http://dx.com/p/6mm-5mw-red-laser-module-3-5-4-5v-13378?Utm_rid=33954493&Utm_source=affiliate

The following shows code that was used with the ioio :

scroll down to Android+IOIO+LaserTripwire
http://mitchtech.net/category/tutorials/ioio/

Any ideas on how you would like to mount the laser, What I can think
of right now is to put IOIO in small case with a hole for the laser
and attach to a stick or pole that will have a base that can simply be
put anywhere. Attached is a simple stick figure of how the setup would
be at finish line. Id like to call you so we can discuss how you would
like everything to look on the screen and so we can be clear on how
the application should work. thanks


JJ Garza
Electronics Engineer I
e-mail : jjg...@gmail.com
work : 410.765.4281
cell : 956.561.0266
fax : 410.981.5385
skype id : jjg_124

[Neil Sutton]

Hi JJ, I agree that the beam arrangement is best mounted on some sort of moveable posts, that either stick into the ground, or have heavy flat bases. I would mark out the exact distance from the start line to the beam posts.

Regarding the way it works, I think as follows;

The beam at the end of the run is where the phone and IOIO will reside. At the start line will be a Raspberry Pi which will have a fairly simple task. Once a button is pressed, the runner has perhaps 10 seconds to get ready. The Pi plays the first MP3 which says 'On your marks'. After a preset time, it plays 'Get set'. After a random time between two preset figures, it plays a gunshot sound and (preferably wirelessly) starts the timer on the phone running.

Once the runner breaks the beam at the end of the run, it stops the timer.

The runner can see the time taken and perhaps can review previous times for the same session.

When the runner goes back to the start and pushes the button again, the sequence starts again. 

There are many possible enhancements but getting this much working will be a big step forward for me.

The connection between start and finish can be wired for now as that simplifies things but for flexibility, it should be wireless eventually.

Thanks, Neil.

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[JJ]

Neil,
The way Im thinking about it, I dont see the need for the raspberry pi, all the functionality can be taken care of by the phone app and the ioio. I was thinking of having the phone at the starting line and the ioio board at the finish line. They would communicate via Bluetooth, I have done several apps using Bluetooth on ioio. Next email, I'll include some MP3s for the starting point so we can chose which ones to use...
Jj

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[broadband155]

Hi JJ. I hadn't thought of doing it that way. It's great to see how many different options there are:) 

My concerns are;

1. Will bluetooth work for 100M? I'm sure at the IOIO end, we can use a more powerful dongle but at the phone end, we are stuck with whatever is inside it. Would it work further than 100M if I wanted it to in the future? I think the maximum it would need to go is 250M as anywhere on the track would work then.

2. I don't know bluetooth that well but I have had some experience of it in a previous job and I would be concerned that it might be laggy, or variable in the transmission of the stop signal. Would other bluetooth devices in the area 'distract' it?

3. Do we need BLE to do this, as my HTC Desire is old now and has V2.1.

4. The other thing that comes to mind is the slight loss in usability, where the runner has to return to the start line to see his/her time. It isn't a big deal, but having the time displayed at the finish line is more logical.

Overall, yours is a more elegant solution, as there is less hardware, which is always better. I would have probably used an amplifier for the MP3's no matter what solution we used at the start line, so that need not change and can easily be done with the phone at the start.

Thanks, Neil.

[JJ]

the bluetooth I currently have has a range of 35m, I can modify the antenna length to get in the 200m range possible even upto one mile if I add a parabolic dish. For now Ill plan to just modify the antenna length and test out what kind of distance I can get. Quick guesstimation calculations have it reaching right within the 250m range.

"but at the phone end, we are stuck with whatever is inside it"....This is not necessarily true, antenna can be modified as well, probably would not want to do that at the phone end anyway as all the components are squeezed together and theres an easier chance of shorting something out on the phone, I just opened up my phone and there is a port that you can connect a wire to the antenna and use a cable instead, so it is possible to use a cable setup as well, but why use cables if we can do wireless. Not sure if your htc desire has an antenna port as well to hook up to, ill look at the schematics, just so we can think of a backup if the wireless antenna booster im making does not work. 

Ill have to look into the bluetooth lagginess if that does become a problem over distance. 

You may be able to update your android firmware on your phone, see if you can go under settings -> about phone -> system updates...

if it asks you  to update it may update to jelly bean 4.1

I didnt see your phone was on the compatibllty list for the android ioio....i did see the HTC Desire HD, but it doesnt mean yours will not work

https://github.com/ytai/ioio/wiki/Supported-Devices

We will have to test out your device with a simple hello world program to see if your phone is compatible, because without that the project is a dud unless youd consider getting a phone or tablet......hmmmm or android can be ported onto the raspberry pi, probably would have trouble communicating with ioio though....but that would be pretty cool...

I think we can add an LCD screen to the ioio that would be able to have the time displayed at the finish line as well....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xihr9w9iGvU

Yes, an amplifier to boost the sound would be great, id prefer the gunshot to sound real....attached are some sound effects I found....I was thinking of seperating the sounds out from On your mark- Get set- (Pistol shot)....so that way the time between them can be tweaked to your liking. I also found one mp3 that does the whole sound effect in one piece....check them out, let me know what you think.

For now, while i wait for the laser to come in, its coming in from China, ill work on that bluetooth antenna modification and start a screen for the user interface to start the timer and most importantly we need to setup your hello world to see if your phone can communicate with the ioio...

This project is really interesting, theres alot going on here....cool beans...

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Jorge Jose Garza

[Neil Sutton]

Hi JJ. Great MP3's. I favour the Loud Bang and agree that they should be kept separate. I would like to be able to play with the times of all sounds separately. As I mentioned in a previous post, I would like to have a random time between Get Set and Go as otherwise, the kids might get used to that exact timing and break, or miss their start in a real race.

As for the bluetooth, I can play around with that at my end too. I have a lot of experience with wifi and quite a few old antennas lying around. I will buy a dongle that will work with the IOIO and maybe solder an antenna onto it directly. I have a small panel antenna which might work very well. It has about 9dB gain.

I wouldn't like to have to open the phone. If we can get this thing working well, it would be good to think that others might use it also and they wouldn't be keen to open up phones.

I will get going on the hello IOIO to see if it works. If it doesn't with the Desire, there is an S3 and a Galaxy Ace in the house here also.

Thanks, Neil.

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