Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Test on snow

This winter in Moscow go to set a warm record for the entire 140-year history of observations. Today, February 11th, we were happy to do the first training of the season, put slalom course. Of course I expected some troubles from Timing, but everything went pretty smoothly. Failures were ordinal, for example, the photo finish somehow stopped working, because the reflector was turned out by ski pole. Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Test on snow

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Connection Diagrams

As far as I understand the concept of Arduino, if you need to take a soldering iron in hand, it is only to wire the modules which project consist on. Wires plan to attach to the legs of the modules using connectors. Then in the case of repair it will be quite simple to replace one module with the same another one.

In this note I’ll leave the wiring diagrams of the modules of which the Start, Finish, Scoreboard, and Individual Radio Stopwatch units are made. I hope these schemes will not be required during the operation, but should still be 🙂

Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Connection Diagrams

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Individual stopwatches

I can remember cases when in the mountains “omega” did not work on the radio channel. For such cases, there is an elegant solution – to carry an individual stopwatch with you, which is triggered by short-range signals at the start and finish. Of course we are talking about training, not competition. In general, hanging an additional “button-like” transmitter from the radio control to the “Start” and “Finish” unuts should not be burdensome. In this article I will share thoughts on this subject 🙂
Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Individual stopwatches

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Arduino Nano from RobotDyn

In the line of single-board computers Arduino “Nano” is a miniaturized “classic” board “Uno” with the same number of I/Os and the ability to work through the USB port. Unfortunately, in addition to miniaturization, simplifications were made. Among them are two that are not associated with a decrease in size. First, the replacement of quartz on ceramic. Secondly, the removal of the “normal” power 3.3 volts. The remaining leg 3V3 is supplied with weak power from the controller serving the USB port.

On Ali-Express, Arduino Nano clones are mainly sold according to the principle “as it was intended”. But among them there is a development (of course more expensive) from the company RobotDyn, in which normal quartz and normal supply of 3.3 volts were “returned”.

In the timekeeping system for alpine skiing it makes sense to put such a version of the Arduino Nano in the “Start” and “Finish” units. In this article I will briefly describe Arduino Nano from RobotDyn.
Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Arduino Nano from RobotDyn

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Addition

In general, regardless of the timing for skiing on Arduino, you can make all sorts of convenient devices. One of these devices I need already for several years. The fact is that in training you need to comply with the usual (exact) time. We rent the slope strictly for two hours, and this time is strictly “scheduled”. But I have no watches with me. This had to be abandoned a long time ago, because the watch does not live long during slalom training. And everything else that can be damaged by hit of slalom poles, a smartphone and even a key fob-alarm on the keys to the car. Everything is in a backpack, which lies in a pile of the same near the start. Therefore, in the field of view is not harmful to have a clock. And it is desirable temperature, although it is not critical. And it is desirable that the watch tracked the training schedule, gave noticeable signals when to set a new course, and when to round out. I was looking for something similar in the sale, frost-resistant with sufficiently large indicators to be seen from a distance. Oddly enough, did not find. In the note I will describe such a unit.
Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Addition

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Photo Finish

As far as I understand, a modern photo finish is no longer just a light bulb and a photocell, but a pulse coding of a light signal with the corresponding operation of a receiving circuit. That is more like a receiver and transmitter, and even more like the TV remote control 🙂

Of course, there are ready-made solutions used in other areas, so you can simply use them.

Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Photo Finish

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Radio channel on modules nRF24L01+

The radio channel for communication of single board microcomputers Arduino is organized using radio modules. I’ve considered that like in common networks, an address is assigned to a microcomputer at which at a certain frequency another microcomputer, of course within radio visibility, can find it. Then these computers communicate with each other using some protocol, which you don’t need to understand. As a result, data is exchanged using simple, high-level commands.

The module based on the nRF24L01 + chip, rather old (unchanged for more than five years), is not the best by modern standards, but quite popular. Judging by the references in the reviews, at the hardware and software level, you can organize a “grid” of 6 microcomputers, which can (when buying a board with noise reduction and an amplifier) ​​communicate up to 1 km away. This information seemed to me enough for the project “Timing for skiing on Arduino”, since I need to link the 3 microcomputers (Start, Finish and base unit) and in the future another one (remote display), that is, less than six. And at a distance of 500 meters, that is less than a kilometer.

In this article I share the experience of implementation. Unfortunately, all was not very easy.
Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Radio channel on modules nRF24L01+

Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Logic

In this note I will keep the work according to the logic of timing based on the radio set Arduino for adults. Timing we need for training. Homemade omega by Lev Ivanov measure time for one skier on the course. In training, this led to a queue at the start, so we did not always install timekeeping. In the formulation of the task it was postulated: at the same time (maximum) three participants could ski on the slalom course and results show at three time indicators. I had to tinker with logic.

Continue reading Timing system for Alpine skiing based on Arduino. Logic