3BF Race Tracking via cell phone system - a means to assist RC & show your course

[brianb]

A possible assist for the race committee is to ask racers to volunteer and enable their on board smart phones to share location with Google Latitude as they sail the course. Here is how it would work:

0) The RC establishes a Google acct with the Latitude feature for use during the race and makes this acct name available to racers.
1) Each volunteer racer sets up a google email account and enables Latitude, a Google feature.
2) Each racer "friends" the RC's acct. and the RC acknowledges same.
3) Each racer adds an App (BackTiTude[free] and Motion X are examples) to their smart phone. This is set up for timed release of position data per the apps features.
- The reason for the App is to reduce power consumption of the smart phone and only connect to the cell phone system at set timed intervals.
4) On race day the App is enabled on the racers cell phone at any time or throughout the race. It would help the RC most if enabled at least in the last period of the race.
5) Only the RC has access to the accumulated position data as the race progresses.
- RC can use this data to track progress, and most importantly have a record of approximate finish times allowing rapid analysis.
6) After the race the data can be shared with all racers.
- It could be replayed at the trophy presentation to show the flow of the event over the course.
- It could appear on a tee shirt.

I did a boat delivery recently and as an experiment used one of the Apps available. The delivery was from HMB to Richmond. I have attached the track captured. It has holes due to cell tower coverage and the fact that the phone was below deck. See the attached JPEG of the plot.

This could be one tool that assists the committee for those willing to participate and could allow the creation of a unique record of the event for later use by all participants.

 

[brianb]

The attached file shows on the bay testing of the tracking app. There are missed samples due to cell phone tower coverage and settings in the Android app. Also there is one case where cell tower triangulation was used instead of GPS data, due to an incomplete sample. The App allows this to be prevented. The method looks promising as a means of real time tracking of vessel position without need for anything more than a smart phone and one of several free Apps.

Brian

 

[brianb]

Tracking course on the bay via Android, Google Latitude, & Backtitude



The attached shows a days sail tracked with GPS data only, no cell tower triangulation. This cleans up the plot and removes errors caused by cell tower triangulation.

 

[breezetrees]

I think this and the jibeset post-race upload have value for racers and committees, but it seems most people don't bother.

How about a separate trophy award for "fastest uploaded track" division as motivation for sailors to participate? Score all the boats that upload or log their track and give a flag to the fastest corrected, in addition to their regular divisions. Maybe jibeset would donate a perpetual cup

-Mike

 

[Wylieguy]

Uploading Tracks, Etc.

I frankly don't know how to upload my tracks. I use a Garmin GSMap 478 on the boat and use a Mac at home. I readily admit to being computer/electronic dumb; I don't have a "smart" phone, for instance. Perhaps a tutorial or some other assistance might help? Or, I could bring the GPS to an SSS Awards Party and have someone there download/upload?

Pat Broderick, Dumb and Dumber as the Electronic Revolution passes me by

 

[BobJ]

Same here Pat, I'll admit it. (I also have a 478 on the boat, Mac at home, and use a "dumb" phone!)

So here's a call for help: The two times I've arranged for a digital projector at OYC for SHTP seminars, etc, both times were a FAIL. Brian was the victim of one of those. It seems the laptop-to-projector system is an iffy proposition.

As SSS's new Race Chair, I'd like to be able to put a chart up on the screen at the skippers' meetings to talk about the course, restricted areas, etc. (I use MacENC on my MacBook.) Can a couple of you tech-savvy members commit to helping me with this, for the benefit of our skippers?

If we can get that working reliably, then maybe we can move on to showing GPS tracks at the awards meetings.

 

[brianb]

I frankly don't know how to upload my tracks. I use a Garmin GSMap 478 on the boat and use a Mac at home. I readily admit to being computer/electronic dumb; I don't have a "smart" phone, for instance. Perhaps a tutorial or some other assistance might help? Or, I could bring the GPS to an SSS Awards Party and have someone there download/upload?

Pat Broderick, Dumb and Dumber as the Electronic Revolution passes me by

This technique doesn't require upload at all. The smart phone's internal gps captures pos'n, then this is sent via cell phone system to Google Latitude where the data is recorded. The key is the use of a free phone App known as Backtitude.

 

[brianb]

This is demonstrating real time upload of position from a smart phone. Hence a committee could actually watch a race's progress in real time by going to Google Latitude. As long as racers are within range of cell phone towers it works pretty well. I just did a trip from HMB to Richmond and had good tracking all the way.

BB

 

[Philpott]

So let me get this straight. The SSS race committee, volunteers du jour, will be asked to stay on full time a week or two after the Fiasco in order to watch the tracks of 355 sailboats? This after watching video of the starts and finishes for the Fiasco? How about GoPro videos to triangulate boats' performances in the background vis a vis other boats? Seriously? I knew buying that camcorder was a mistake.

 

[BobJ]

If things are running smoothly on the race deck it could be another means to check the few finish uncertainties - much like the video was meant to be. None of these substitute for efficient recording as boats finish.

It could also be a P/C tool to resolve restricted area issues. For that reason it may not be too popular with some boats . . .

 

[Philpott]

Well at least the cavalry has arrived.

 

[BobJ]

Da-da-da-da-da--DA! (Sounds of cavalry arriving.)

General announcement: If you see some weird stuff on the Jibeset Regatta Information page for the Corinthian Race, it's just me trying to teach myself Jibeset. Apparently it all goes away when those-who-know-what-they're-doing take over.

 

[brianb]

So let me get this straight. The SSS race committee, volunteers du jour, will be asked to stay on full time a week or two after the Fiasco in order to watch the tracks of 355 sailboats? This after watching video of the starts and finishes for the Fiasco? How about GoPro videos to triangulate boats' performances in the background vis a vis other boats? Seriously? I knew buying that camcorder was a mistake.

Imagine sitting on the race deck, laptop in front of you, and there before your eyes are the names of vessels on the course and approaching the finish line. As screen operator you might even choose to let the rest of the committee know that two boats named "Moore4Me" are about to finish, one from the west, one from the north.

I hope you don't mind if I conduct an experiment in the next year to see if cell phone technology, coupled with volunteer users, could assist in this large race.

Brian

 

[Philpott]

Brian, I think it's a wonderful idea and nobody in his/her right mind would object to making the Fiasco finish less of a ... fiasco. If you'd like to conduct said experiment from the deck of the Corinthian Yacht Club for our upcoming Corinthian race to see how it goes, even better! Does the experiment assume that all boats upload from their smart phones? Because (as you know) the SSS includes a lot of smart sailors with dumb phones. As long as this does not become another condition of participation, I love it. Bob, Mr Race Chair, do you love it?

 

[brianb]

The experiment only needs volunteers to enable their phone, via a free installed application. Once that is done, and they turn said phone on, the application will report positions each time the boat moves a predetermined distance, say 100m. What will appear on the laptop is a series of tracks and points indicating each boats position.

I have written up the proposal for the Corinthian, in the Pressure Drop website, in hopes of getting a few volunteers. I have already proven the basic method works well by sailing both in the bay and offshore from Half Moon Bay.

Questions that remain open:
1) Are there limits to how many reports can be handled at a time (for Google to answer) ?
2) Can a guard ring be set, I.E. as boats get within 500 m of the finish have the phone report more frequently the position. A question for the App developer.
3) Are participants willing to participate ?

It may not lead anywhere, but on the other hand it could be useful.

Brian

 

[K38Bob]

So any more work on this topic? I heard some rumblings about trackers again for local ocean races that require extra cost items.
thanks!

 

[Mewes]

Hey Bob, I can see it now: A computer receiver is perched at the line at the race deck. Tracker signals approaching finishers via unique identifiers. No more race volunteers complaining about too much wind, not enough sandwiches etc. The PRO merely retrieves the computer from the line....wait! the computer is actually in Los Angeles and is programmed to issue a finish report within 20 minutes of the time limit.

 

[Wylieguy]

Unfortunately there are some of us who still use flip phones ("dumb" phones) and would be left out, not counted, banned, or otherwise ostracized. How would we participate? Pat

 

[Wylieguy]

Bob, As PRO for the Corinthian Race I object. There was already more than enough "weird stuff" going on that day. Like running two races with different Start-Finish Lines at the same time from the same deck without using a gun; getting kicked off the race deck by a baseball themed bar mitzvah; and watching sailboats achieve the impossible by sailing backward thru Raccoon Strait (the wrong way, of course). I think it would be much more interesting if you diddled with the Pac Cup results? Pat B.