Voluntary organizations such as scouts often include orienteering competitions in their programs. Electronic checkpoint systems are increasingly being used in these competitions. We set out to create a similar measuring system, starting from concept to execution. For comparison we will take an existing measurment system from the company SPORTident.
We began planning the product from the perspective of both the competitor and the user, i.e., the person setting up the orienteering course. After developing a well-defined vision, we created a concept consisting of four components. The measuring system comprises 14 reading modules for time measurement, contactless cards for storing time stamps, a charging station for the modules and a user interface for system control. Contactless communication between the cards and modules is based on high-frequency RFID. For time synchronization on the modules and data reading from the cards, we developed a user interface in the LabVIEW programming environment.
After completing the build of the entire system, which we named EBSO (Electronic Reading System for Time Measurement in Orienteering Competitions), field testing followed. We tested the device at a scout camp in Medvode with a group of forty children. The children competed in pairs on a track consisting of six check points. Many improvement ideas have emerged during the final test. The upcoming times will show, if we will take on smaller emprovements of the system, or if we will create a whole new model.
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