WillyChang 1814 Posted November 1, 2002 Just surfin' on a little dreamzone here... [8D] Any one tried setting up a personal lapcounting system before? Starting say with a PC + some kind of simple serial/parallel data acquision board, maybe with beam sensors - to do just 1 car on the track. Nothing as fancy as a full-on AMB system, of course. Thinking of something affordable, portable, reliable and simple. And if you can build it into a PDA, better still... Any better ideas re car identification? Then can expand system to do more than 1 car too, and allow others on the track at the same time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aaronmihe(2) 0 Posted November 1, 2002 Yeah - think laterally - you need to adapt a cheap commercially available technology to the purpose. The key issue is triggering and event when a car goes over the line, and then getting that event into a PC. There's a few options for that available right now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted November 1, 2002 Hiya Aaron, good to see ya over here in 'giant' [] land!! Playing with the Big boys now, not just Bit parts. [] Hmm... anyone does shareware race mgmt s/w? Or just lapcounting? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarterTG 27 Posted November 1, 2002 quote: Originally posted by WillyChang Nothing as fancy as a full-on AMB system, of course. Thinking of something affordable, portable, reliable and simple. id="quote">id="quote"> Instead of reinventing the wheel and spend just as much custom-building a personal lap counter, why not set sights for the Team Orion Pro LCS ? WildHobbies Pro LCS review It has a streetprice in the US at around $170. Here at least, it's the only other commercial alternative to the $3500usd AMB system. (probably due to patent issues) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
netsmithUK 488 Posted November 1, 2002 Have you looked in to this? http://www.easy-rc.com/laptrack/ not tried it, but might help and only $9.95! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 0 Posted November 2, 2002 To do just one car is easy enough, It's telling cars apart that gets complicated. I used to have one for my scalextric made from a light sensor connected to a cheap-n-nasty calculator. The car breaks the beam, triggers the = button on the calculator and adds 1 to the display. Pretty simple and cost next to nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyby 0 Posted November 2, 2002 I did download a simple lap timer free from somewhere, i have searched my files but it is hiding from me at the minute. If i find it i will send it too you Willy. Not helping much am i dad, (english tv add)LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted November 3, 2002 quote:Originally posted by CarterTGInstead of reinventing the wheel and spend just as much custom-building a personal lap counter, why not set sights for the Team Orion Pro LCS? id="quote">id="quote">Yes, have looked at the Orion... but unfortunately it does need an IR emitter to be placed in the car. It also needs a powersource (RX plug). Sure its the same size as a transponder, but there's drama fitting it to some cars, eg: 1) all the prepainted Tamiya shells don't have clear windows. 2) only works for large 1/10... I'm thinking of 1/64. [:I] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted November 3, 2002 quote:Originally posted by netsmithUKHave you looked in to this? http://www.easy-rc.com/laptrack/ not tried it, but might help and only $9.95! id="quote">id="quote">That looks cool, Chris... will check it out. Hmmm... will it interface with an input device... [8D] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
