Help for car buffs

Press, 27 September 1988, Page 31

Help for car buffs

By

NEILL BIRSS

One of the toughest parts of car sport is clocking in the drivers and keeping a points tally. A system developed by a Christchurch computer executive does the work effortlessly. Ron Blakemore, president of Canterbury’s Autosport Club, has built a timing system comprising laptop computer and printer, infrared finish beam and radio link, and “hockey-stick” starter. It used to take five persons one and a half to two hours to compile results at the end of some events. These are now ready from the computer within a minute of the last car’s run. A time interval between runs in keyed into the computer. At the end of a run it counts down this time. When it reaches zero, the green light is given for the next run. The starter is equipped with what is called a hockey stick — because earlier versions were modelled on hockey sticks. This has a button to enliven the device’s microswitch, thus reducing false starts. It also has a spring-loaded microswitch which goes into the wheel or against a mudflap of the car. When the computer-controlled lights at the start are on green, the starter can then tell a driver to start. The driver revs up, and is away, triggering the microswitch. ® This signals the computer via cable. © The computer logs the precise time. The signal goes into the computer through its R 5232 port. At the end of the run, the car breaks an infrared beam and a signal is radioed into the microcomputer.

The system provides an individual printout for the driver, identifies the best time for a class and for the whole event. In grass events (autocross) it sums the times of each competitor. In hill climbs and rallies the system selects the fastest in each set of runs. The competitors are enthusiastic about the $12,000 system, which is the most advanced in New Zealand, Mr Blakemore believes. It can handle up to 10 cars at a time in a stage, making up to six runs each. Timing is in hundredths of a second. Other sports are interested. It is being considered for timing jetboat sprinting, and Mr Blakemore feels it could be used in drag racing, and even modified for slalom timing on the ski slopes.

Work on the system began 18 months ago, and it has now been used twice. Mr Blakemore is still modifying it. All the equipment is standard, and the software will run in any MS-DOS machine. The laptop computer is a PC AT clone running at 10MHz with 640 Mb of RAM memory and two floppy disks. The software, was written by Mr Trevor Turner, of Christchurch, in C and in dßase 111-like software, DBXL, compiled by Quicksilver. The club looked at using smaller microcomputers, but Mr Blakemore, an account

manager for Solstat, which wholesales micro-computer-storage equipment, prevailed in having an MS-DOS system chosen. The software includes a memory-resident module that loads first and monitors the port continuously for finish and start signals. When a pulse comes in this is logged even though the microcomputer may be being used in some other part of the program, such as changing the name details of another competitor.

The transmission time of the start and finish signals is taken into account. Dust trails can break an infrared finish beam, but the flexibility of the program allows corrections at every stage of calculation.

The club has three classes: up to 1300 cc, 1301 cc to 1600 cc, and 1601 CC and over. Before a run details of each entrant are keyed in. After a run the time is flashed on the screen in the same row as the entrant’s details, and is printed. If entrants pass in a stage, the table can be adjusted simply. The print-outs are in class order, and drivers are listed from fastest to slowest.

At the Mount Thomas rally this month, the points systems was being run easily by one person. Drivers were given print-outs of their times as they passed the officials’ caravan near the finish line.

All the club needs now is a large digital read-out to flash the times to the spectators. This would boost rallying as a spectator sport.