[East Bay Rich]

With the Sandhill Spring series right around the corner, I've been thinking about their grassroots-style timing. It's usually a person w/ a stopwatch. This leads me to ask:

What alternate methods could be implemented?

Idea #1 Instant Replay:
I came across a DIY instant replay system comprising of a TV, DVR/TiVo, & video camera. Set the video camera as the DVR input and you can have instant reply. Set up a large digital clock w/ milliseconds in the foreground of the camera and you can check to see exactly when a racer crosses the finish line. However, the review time would be slow and would require quick math to calculate the true differential. It would also depend on the replay & slo-mo ability of the DVR.


Idea #2 Electronic Finish Line:
What if we took a stopwatch, and modified the start/stop button? Instead of the signal coming from the little button that you push, it could come from a strip of Ribbon Switch:
Tapeswitch Corporation Online Store - Safety, sensing, and signaling products
The big problem is that bikes would press the switch twice, once per wheel. This student had a solution:
Bicycle timing system for sprints and time trials
If we were to eliminate the double input from two wheels, it might even be possible to wire a start-input at the start gate.

Idea #3 CPU timing system:
This would take ideas from #2, but add in a digital timer program. Perhaps the program could be written to ignor the rear wheel input.



De-Bouncing elimination ideas:
1.) What if the switch is held down after the first wheel passes over, and is released when the rear wheel clears the swtich? Perhaps 2 pieces of flat wood that sandwich the switch?

2.) What if the switch ran lengthwise or diagonally under a piece of wood that was longer than your average bike wheelbase? It wouldn't be depressed until the bike clears the board, right?

Well, if you have any ideas PLEASE post! This comes from a racer that has won and lost heats by fractions of a second ; )

Thanks,
Rich