4 ms·

I guess this would be a relatively relevant place to ask, does anyone know of an affordable technology that can be used for precision (inches) tracking of 8-36

by lbotos 14y ago

I guess this would be a relatively relevant place to ask, does anyone know of an affordable technology that can be used for precision (inches) tracking of 8-36 items indoor or out? The caveat would be affordable. The use case would is BMX Racing. Scoring is still done by hand! I've looked into RFID tagging but the docs and manufacturer's specs are all over the place. Any ideas?

jrockway 14y ago
Computer vision seems like the logical solution to this problem.
- lbotos 14y ago
  Too many variable and too much data processing to be used at a local level I'd think. Any specifics I should look into?
18pfsmt 14y ago
Note: I will keep my comments to passive RFID (non-battery powered tags) and leave aside active RFID commonly used for toll roads, shipping containers, etc. RFID is actually a family of technologies, typically defined by ISO standards, and operating over several distinct frequencies: 134kHz (LF), 13.56MHz (HF), and 900MHz (UHF). LF and HF use inductive coupling between the tag (transponder) and reader (transceiver) while UHF uses capacitive coupling. Theses technologies do not allow one to know a specific distance, but rather when a tag is in the field or not. So, when Wal-Mart uses UHF tags on their pallets, they don't know where the pallet is exactly in their warehouse, they simply know when the pallet has passed through their loading dock. I've seen some triathlon timing systems use UHF RFID, but they still use cameras in case of close finishes. Hope that helps.
- lbotos 14y ago
  Thanks! I've seen some timing systems that are used in triathlons but the main problem was making a field that was 25-30 feet width but a tight spread (1 foot). Do you think active would fair better in that respect? Last time I checked it seemed so but it also jacked up the price a bit. I know that for Olympic BMX they are using some type of active transponders but I can't think that any commercially available solution would be accurate enough. I assume they have to be doing camera checking too but for .000 second split times even a foot spread seems like a wide margin of error.
  - 18pfsmt 14y ago
    Given the granularity in timing (i.e. 0.000 sec) you are looking for, I don't think active would help; and, the tags are certainly more expensive, though reusable.
    - lbotos 14y ago
      I'd settle for .00 but if I'm not mistaken the Olympic level reports .000 with some type of active transponder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_UXJVK7iM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_UXJVK7iM
marklubi 14y ago
I don't know about the affordable part, but there are a number of timing companies that offer very accurate timing within thousandths of a second. The two companies that are the most prevalent are MyLaps [1] and Westhold [2], although there are some others out there as well. Both of these are active systems that require that each competitor have a transponder on their vehicle. [1] http://www.mylaps.com http://www.mylaps.com [2] http://www.westhold.com/ http://www.westhold.com/
7952 14y ago
Does it need to be real time? you could mount fiducial marks on posters and capture them using head cams. Use computer vision algorithms to guess location.

by lbotos 14y ago

jrockway 14y ago

Computer vision seems like the logical solution to this problem.

lbotos 14y ago
Too many variable and too much data processing to be used at a local level I'd think. Any specifics I should look into?

18pfsmt 14y ago

Note: I will keep my comments to passive RFID (non-battery powered tags) and leave aside active RFID commonly used for toll roads, shipping containers, etc. RFID is actually a family of technologies, typically defined by ISO standards, and operating over several distinct frequencies: 134kHz (LF), 13.56MHz (HF), and 900MHz (UHF). LF and HF use inductive coupling between the tag (transponder) and reader (transceiver) while UHF uses capacitive coupling. Theses technologies do not allow one to know a specific distance, but rather when a tag is in the field or not. So, when Wal-Mart uses UHF tags on their pallets, they don't know where the pallet is exactly in their warehouse, they simply know when the pallet has passed through their loading dock. I've seen some triathlon timing systems use UHF RFID, but they still use cameras in case of close finishes. Hope that helps.

lbotos 14y ago
Thanks! I've seen some timing systems that are used in triathlons but the main problem was making a field that was 25-30 feet width but a tight spread (1 foot). Do you think active would fair better in that respect? Last time I checked it seemed so but it also jacked up the price a bit. I know that for Olympic BMX they are using some type of active transponders but I can't think that any commercially available solution would be accurate enough. I assume they have to be doing camera checking too but for .000 second split times even a foot spread seems like a wide margin of error.
- 18pfsmt 14y ago
  Given the granularity in timing (i.e. 0.000 sec) you are looking for, I don't think active would help; and, the tags are certainly more expensive, though reusable.
  - lbotos 14y ago
    I'd settle for .00 but if I'm not mistaken the Olympic level reports .000 with some type of active transponder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_UXJVK7iM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_UXJVK7iM

marklubi 14y ago

I don't know about the affordable part, but there are a number of timing companies that offer very accurate timing within thousandths of a second. The two companies that are the most prevalent are MyLaps [1] and Westhold [2], although there are some others out there as well. Both of these are active systems that require that each competitor have a transponder on their vehicle. [1] http://www.mylaps.com http://www.mylaps.com [2] http://www.westhold.com/ http://www.westhold.com/

7952 14y ago

Does it need to be real time? you could mount fiducial marks on posters and capture them using head cams. Use computer vision algorithms to guess location.