Electronic Scoring for F3K Comps

[PaulR]

After a bit of discussion last year about an app to allow scoring and competition info to be available on some kind of electronic devices I started developing a web based app that hopefully accomplished some of those aims.

For me the goals were:

• No special hardware - Pandora etc use additional hardware that needs to be purchased - I wanted to take advantage of the device everyone has in their pocket already
• Provide realtime slot/round info - no more misheard announcements or missed countdown timer starts, you have the round timer and competition state on the screen in front of you
• No need for Internet access - local network on site only
• Timer - a usable touchscreen stopwatch that can actually be used at the field

Gliderscore offered the best base to start from and Gerry over in Australia (who has developed that application) was helpful in providing his code for me to examine.

Hopefully using something like this will make the idea of a "no contact" comp more feasible too.

Development time spent has actually tailled off during lockdown as I seem to be busier than normal (I worked from home anyway so no change there). Hopefully making something public along with the idea that we may have a comp or too later this year will give me a push to make further improvements and do some practical field testing in the coming weeks.

I'll probably make a separate post for those interested in how it is put together from a technical perspective, but for now, here is a video that shows the basic functionality as it is today.

Apologies for the sound levels, I'll balance the audio levels between voice and computer a bit better next time.

 

[PaulR]

Just noticed that none of the app's drop down boxes are showing up in the video capture for some reason. I'm sure you can imagine what they are supposed to look like though.

[Paul Gleeson]

iOS and Android? Which Android version is required?

Looks very interesting. Maybe we get to try it later in the year if we can.

[PaulR]

19 minutes ago, Paul Gleeson said:

iOS and Android? Which Android version is required?

Looks very interesting. Maybe we get to try it later in the year if we can.

Its not a native "app" - its just a web page - all JavaScript in the browser based on Vue.js and Bootstrap. Any Android or iOS version will do (barring any weird HTML/JS/CSS differences).

The support for the touch sensitive start/stop button (which is the best (or only properly practical) way to use the timer) is limited to iOS devices with "3D touch" which are limited to iPhone 6S/6S Plus, 7/7Plus, 8/8Plus, X and XS/XS Max.  That feature has been dropped from the newest models unfortunately.

[Paul Gleeson]

How can I try it?

[PaulR]

You can't at the moment.
Although its just a page, its a front end, backend/API, MongoDB database and also needs FTP and HTTP connectivity to the Gliderscore app.

While I could technically set it up to run externally, I'd need somewhere to host it and need to make sure all the connectivity works. I'm targetting a local WiFi network as the environment it will run in with no Internet access and my dev environment is set up that way. I have a 2.4/5GHz access point that will run on 12v and will try that in an actual field at some point soon.

I was imagining an introduction session at the "Come and Try" event in April but that obviously didn't happen.

If you've got any familiarity with Node.js and the rest of the environment then you might be able to set it up yourself locally. Code is in github which I'll make more widely available for other to contribute when it reaches a suitable point. Its a bit fragile at the moment.

 

[cirrusRC]

Impressive Paul - you've bee busy!

I was curious about the connectivity but your last post answered that.

I used GliderSCore at the German open last year,   found it very good apart from needing an internet connection to upload the scores (roaming).      Less of an issue for UK comps.

I'm not a fan of timing using a phone for obvious reasons (incoming calls, screen locking, dodgy clicking) but be interesting to try this out at some point.

[PaulR]

41 minutes ago, cirrusRC said:

I'm not a fan of timing using a phone for obvious reasons (incoming calls, screen locking, dodgy clicking) but be interesting to try this out at some point.

Incoming calls, screen locking etc can be handled in a few different ways. Easiest is to take the phone out of the drawer that you were using last year and use that as a dedicated device.

The dodgy clicking is the biggest issue I think. The "3D Touch" on the iphone models mentioned above really does solve that as far as the actual timing is concerned.

The page here has the same touch interface for the button in the bottom right. I find it works well on my iPhone 8. https://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/pdr/timer.html

[AJH]

I don't really understand the precise requirements for timing in your application so I apologise if the following suggestions are not relevant.

In my own Android timing/logging application I can use the following to initiate/terminate the timing function:

a) FrSky/Multiplex specific is to use a BlueTooth module in the back of the Tx and listen/manipulate telemetry data.

b) Stand alone BlueTooth device consisting of an 18650, Arduino, BlueTooth module and a press button  - see pictures

c)  Shaking the device, detected via the SensorEventListener to detect the device being shaken.  It's <200 lines of code.  It takes a little tuning (varies by device) to work reasonably reliably.

AJH

[PaulR]

11 hours ago, AJH said:

I don't really understand the precise requirements for timing in your application so I apologise if the following suggestions are not relevant.

Dedicated bluetooth button is an interesting idea. I've not looked into the latency of bluetooth in that situation but I assume you found no problems. Without a native app though I don't think the browser DOM would have access to the events generated by such a device.

My plan for the longer term for Android was to wrap the HTML/JS app in a native app that simply implements a browser and I believe that would allow access to events generated by the physical buttons on the phone, in which case you could use the volume controls to start/stop a timer.