Blackout
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,610
I'm revisiting an infrared timing system with a twist. This one will be installed on my pond or our club's pond during test and tune days. The display shown below has 5" tall LED digits and will be on the shore for easy driver's view. Every time a boat passes through the traps, the front chute top speed will automatically be displayed. Two boats could run at the same time as long as they were spaced out a bit. I'm using an Arduino micro controller to record elapsed times, compute mph, and send outputs to the display. The Arduino is programmed using the C language.
Any thoughts on the minimum trap distance to produce accurate speeds to 1/10th of a second? Most boat speeds will vary between 50 - 80 mph. I know the IMPBA uses 330 feet. The current program is at 150 feet. But with mph computed at the drag strips only 66 feet, I'm wondering how short I can go. A shorter distance would save a little money and maybe make setup easier. Thanks for any input.
Any thoughts on the minimum trap distance to produce accurate speeds to 1/10th of a second? Most boat speeds will vary between 50 - 80 mph. I know the IMPBA uses 330 feet. The current program is at 150 feet. But with mph computed at the drag strips only 66 feet, I'm wondering how short I can go. A shorter distance would save a little money and maybe make setup easier. Thanks for any input.