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Can this be done??? or

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393clevor

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OK I have been looking around at building some kind of timer, start and stop. It's for a local Mud Truck Rally. What I was thinking of doing is using some garage door saftey beams one at each end of the track to trigger a timer or relay. I found some DOS software that uses pretty simple stuff to track lap time in rc racing, I would just need to make the sensors (triggers) bigger to span at least 15 feet. They are using a pc to do the timing and some small light sensors on the track....

here are some link to the rc timer stuff I've been reading.
Track Timer
World's Least Expensive Pinewood Derby Timer

then I found this If I could use the safety beams to trigger this it would work great
DIY Wireless Race Timing System Video - Pinkbike.com

what do you think???

great site, way over my head but I'm not afraid to get into something over my head... I'm going to build this one way or another.... any help would be great and very appreciated

Thanks Steve
 
Timer

You can use an IR Led and a sensor like is used in TV sets. I could see the transmitter being battery powered (so you don't need a wire under the track) and the receiver and pc on the side that you can be on. Is this what you had in mind?
 
Sorry, I missed the start and end part. Guess it's more like a drag race than the Indy 500. The ir is still okay for the triggers, but now you need something like the video to get the start or finish line info to the computer. How long is the track?
 
Thanks so much for the reply and your time. Yes that is what I am trying to do.

I would be happy with just using the wireless radios and the hand held stop watch like in the video I posted but would need to make some sort of triggers at the start line and the end of the track. In the video he mentions the 5 second delay that might be a problem if a truck were to run under the 5 seconds.
 
Sorry, I missed the start and end part. Guess it's more like a drag race than the Indy 500. The ir is still okay for the triggers, but now you need something like the video to get the start or finish line info to the computer. How long is the track?

the track is just under 200 feet, future upgrades to the track might put it around 100 feet.
 
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got any links to how I could wire all this up? i have know idea how I would use the safety beams to trigger a relay or switch, if I could do that I could use the radios like in the video
 
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