Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Personal Lap Timer - Countdown to launch

The Arduino side of the personal lap timer is finished, all that remains to do before I can launch the project is to produce parts lists and schematics. I am also changing the transponder design slightly to allow for a low power and high power option. The low power option is for use in scale model racing where the track is narrow and will often loop back on itself. The high power option allows the lap timer to be used in Karts or Automobiles where the track width is much greater and a more powerful signal is needed.


I hope to be able to provide some videos of the timer in use at local RC, Kart and Automobile tracks over the next week or two.

I am also looking for an established electronics retailer that would be willing to provide all of the parts required as a prepackaged self assembly 'parts pack'.

The final design is very simple and could be built by anyone with soldering experience. The low parts count keeps the cost and complexity down.


Specifications - 
  • The system records sessions upto 254 laps long and upto 510 laps in total.
  • Each lap is captured automatically by sensing the coded signal generated by the transponder
  • During a lap the current duration is displayed and updated with each second.
  • On completing a lap, the buzzer will sound once, the lap time will be displayed for two seconds
  • In the event that a new fastest lap is recorded, this will be displayed and the buzzer will sound twice
  • The current fastest lap for the session is always displayed in the top row of the screen.
  • When a session is finished, the session review mode provides session summary information including the ability to scroll through all recorded sessions viewing the average and best lap times.
  • From the session review mode a lap review mode can be entered to scroll through the individual lap times within the session.
Stay tuned, more soon ...

Duane B


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