MOTORSPORT
While at University, Darren developed a system
with joystick control that simulated the ability
of radar to track an aircraft or missile, and then
predict its future position to meet anti-aircraft
fire. The mathematical methods applied to the
simulation are directly applicable to tracking
racecars and predicting where they will meet, to
signal a blue flag automatically to the car about to
be lapped. Automatic blue flags illustrates what
can be achieved by integrating a timing system
with a smart track signalling system.
“When I started to investigate LED technology
it wasn't bright enough, it was too expensive
and there wasn't the demand electronic flags,”
says Darren. “In the last couple years there's
been significant alignment of the technologies
to make LED displays a feasible proposition.
There is an increasing demand from tracks for
electronic displays because of the diminishing
pool of volunteers and increasing focus on safety.
LED displays now make economic sense and the
interest from the user community is growing.”
Most of the companies offering this kind
of equipment had some kind of fabricated
sheet-metal or off-the-shelf plastic electronic box
enclosure that did very little other than support the
display and provide location/fixing for the box.
Mímirbox on the other hand is a custom single
piece plastic moulding designed for durability and
convenience. Visually, Mímirbox looks like the
durable military style flight cases you see being
loaded onto Humvees in war zones, so from first
glance it looks like it will survive the rigours of the
garage, paddock or pit lane.
Months of design effort went into incorporating
useful features moulded into the enclosure
that you don't see in other products. Slots for
sunshades, a framed recess to protect the LED
panels , indents for straps and indents for light
sensors for automatic brightness control.
All the edges of the enclosure are rounded and
it is made from durable high-density non-splinter
plastic for safety. A carry handle is also moulded
into the enclosure and there are grooves all
around it to allow it to be slotted easily into a
low-cost tubular bracket (similar to TV aerial
support tubing), which has standard scaffold pipe
clips fitted to its attachment ends. The enclosure
can also be ratchet strapped to racetrack catch
fencing or posts. There are also threaded inserts
moulded-in, so it can be bolted to any fixing.
In order to bring the product to market in
New Zealand Darren established a distribution
agreement with Alpha Timing, a UK company
best known for its timing software. All except one
affiliated kart club track in the UK uses Alpha-
Timing software. The combination of Alpha-Timing
and Mímirbox provides a complete race event
management and control system that replaces
Orbits and interfaces directly to Mylaps hardware.
Alpha-Timing is an easy to use system that
includes on-line registration, live results feed and
now integration with Mímirbox.
“All the software resides on a purpose-built
Mímirbox microcomputer server. There is no
software to install on a user machine and no limit
on the number of connected users,” says Darren.
“Any authorised user with network, or even
Internet access, to the server can run Mímirbox.
You login to the server with any device running any
operating system to get full access. The Mímirbox
system looks like a private, secure website to the
user.”
The modularity in the software is defined by
internal and external interfaces so new functionality
can be added or substituted like Lego bricks.
For example, when Mímirbox is displayed on a
cell phone, a specific version of the graphical user
interface (GUI) is automatically substituted to work
with the smaller screen size.
All software development and integration is done
remotely via the Internet from the UK, Australia,
the Philippines and New Zealand.
Alpha Timing was able to log into the system in
New Zealand over the Internet and develop their
API and related software in the UK.
With a Mímirbox electronic pit board integrated
with the timing system you can display the current
lap information immediately after the car has
crossed the start and finish line. You don't need
to wait to finish another lap before reviewing
the previous lap’s time. The timing display is
immediate, there is no need to input the timing
results into a different system. This is real time
information that doesn't require anything to be
installed in the car. It relies on information passed
from the timing system as the car passes over the
track loop at the start and finish line.
Darren is working on a customised LED display,
which uses the same dies, templates and tooling
that the larger display uses. This panel is over
twice as bright as equivalent off-the-shelf panels
and it uses less power. Power is really important in
these kinds of applications as the power loading
defines the size of the battery, which has cost
implications. All the Mímirbox displays use high
quality EV type lithium batteries
There is a current development which will allow
users to inspect the state of charge of the battery
inside each display and the user will be informed
of the remaining capacity. This is important as
lithium batteries tend to have a very short twilight
charge, so the power output fades quickly. The
battery monitoring electronics is very sophisticated
and it allows for things like battery age and
the discharge profiles over time. The battery fuel
gauge indicator is a very reliable measure.
If there is a problem with a display, it only takes
seconds to swap in a fresh one. When a display
is introduced into the network, it is automatically
30 June 2019