MCRA in St. Louis is working with a company who is making major inroads into RFID timing. This is a company that had over $600 million in sales last year and has offices in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and of course the US.
I know that Loudon has been doing some work with Zoomious with mixed results. My understanding of the system at Loudon was that it used only 1 antenna to read the signals from an off the shelf RFID transponder.
The company we are working with uses an array of 8 antenna at the Start/Finish line with a transponder custom designed for speeds up to 200 mph.
The good news - the cost of each transponder ? $1.75 These transponders are designed for 1 weekend use and then throw them away. The transponders are designed to attach to the top of your helmet and are a paper thin, waterproof material in the shape of a T and approx 3" wide by 3" long that attaches with a super strong adhesive.
Race more than 1 bike? No problem - no transponder to switch - it's on your helmet. Team Challenge? No problem - each Team member gets a transponder that is coded with the same bike number just for the Team Challenge.
Some other good news ...... results, lap times and running position will be available live throughout the event and post event via wifi.
Plans are being finalized to test this equipment at Track Days at HPT - Topeka on July 10th and again on August 13 & 14. If you're attending any of these events check in with us and you may be able to try out the system to help provide test data to prove the system.
FYI.... for those currently owning AMB transponders. AMB recently sold to a Dutch company who is disappointed in their financial results. You can read between the lines on what the future may hold for them.
The extra $1.75 will blow my race budget... I can't afford any more extra expenses, ccs needs to make racing more affordable not less.
Yeah, not so fast Bunky. That's almost the cost of one-half of one Moca Farrta Frappa Chino. Besides, what about when we go more than 200 mph?
:biggrin:
There goes my 2-liter of soda... :banghead:
Great news!
I just did a Google search for "rfid timing" and came up with two different companies that have systems for what we would need. One says it was designed for speeds in excess of 200mph...so that should be just fine. However they also say that the system runs "under $30,000". That is a huge outlay for a system!! There was another system that was only around $4k but they did not give a speed that it was good for. The transponders on the first system were $30-40 for the good re-usable ones. The second system required tags bought in lots of a minimum of 500 that made them $5 each.
This is a great idea.
I lke it.
I can't seem to find the button in the New Format that allows you to make changes to a posting...
Can anyone help me with this or is there a time limit that doesn't allow you to make changes after a certain number of days?
I think I got my answer when I posted the above question..... time limit must have kicked in. Can anyone tell me how much time you have after a post to modify it?
Quote from: Burt Munro on July 13, 2011, 01:42:39 AM
I think I got my answer when I posted the above question..... time limit must have kicked in. Can anyone tell me how much time you have after a post to modify it?
30 minutes.
i'll take two :D
Quote from: Fast Eddy on July 13, 2011, 02:09:14 PM
And that should be adjustable by admin.
It is, but it was done this way for a reason. If Jeff wants to elaborate, I'll let him.
Big problem with RFID is not registering a vehicle at speed but determining when the vehicle crossed a definitive plane, ie finish line. The multiple scoring antenea may solve the problem but would add a logistical nightmare potentially: running wires to all of them, setting them up accurately each time, wind bracing, covering a race line and pitlane.
There are some transponders/transmitters in pipeline that use existing track loops that have lower cost than AMB. With the life of both the original Westhold transmitters and AMB transponders reaching their end of useful life I would wait on word from Kevin before rushing out to purchase a personal unit.