RC Racing [Done need to be tested]

Any ideas or any experience on timing Rc cars?

We have a miniRc club - 1/28 electric RCs - and we are having some ideas on using a webcam horizontally and flag on the cars antenas at different heights to identify them with software as Zone Trigger.

what you guys think?

Some have build a lazer detector like here
http://www.schumacher.clara.net/laptimer.htm
but for sure the solution with webcam is more easy, please tell us if it work fine .

guy wrote:

Some have build a lazer detector like here
http://www.schumacher.clara.net/laptimer.htm
but for sure the solution with webcam is more easy, please tell us if it work fine .

Well, we just tried it. And Perspective is the problem.

We tried putting the webcam Focusing across the track, so it can detect cars that pass by.

Using a similar approach to that in the laser system, Flags in the antenas at different heights, and using software such as ZoneTrigger, to identify wich car it was according to which zone was triggered.

But, a car passing near may affect more than one zone
and a car passing far away may affect also another zone and not it's own.

It's a matter of Perspective. Sadly it won't work.

I guess we need an image processing soft that identifies labels on the cars (i.e. big black numbers on a white square label) using the webcam to shoot the cars passing by from the above front.

It'll be hard.

Did you try by changing the sensivity of the spot , maybe less sensivity will solve the detection problem.

guy wrote:

Did you try by changing the sensivity of the spot , maybe less sensivity will solve the detection problem.

Yes and it's not a matter of sensitivity, It's rather a problem of size of the cars when they ar far and near, and spread of the focus of the camera.



You can see in the pic how the car in the back is trigering the spot that belongs to the car in front (check antena banners)

The farther the car is the smaller the banner becomes, such as that the nearer, the bigger, so if a car passes too near the camera, it may trigger two or more spots others than his own alone.

Ok now i understand, maybe there is other software than web zone trigger who can recognise color but i'am affraid that not exist.
If i found i tell you

guy wrote:

Ok now i understand, maybe there is other software than web zone trigger who can recognise color but i'am affraid that not exist.
If i found i tell you

Thanks, but I'm afraid it won't work either. We have too many cars, and some are the same color!!!!

What could work is if we find some image processing soft that can recognize numbers, so we can stick some big label on each car and the, such software can detect wich car passed. Kind of complicated stuff.....

Hi NestorLeone

These guys make an rc transponder system:-

http://www.rclapcounter.com/

Problem is I dont know how you would connect it to PC Lapcounter because it uses serial data.

Andy

speedy wrote:

Hi NestorLeone

These guys make an rc transponder system:-

http://www.rclapcounter.com/

Problem is I dont know how you would connect it to PC Lapcounter because it uses serial data.

Andy

very interesting....i will ask them the protocol for the serial port and make Pc lap Counter compatible

I made Pc Lap Counter compatible with rclapcounter, more information here https://pclapcounter.forumotion.com/viewtopic.forum?t=64