System and process for charting and displaying the time and position of contestants in a race

• US 8,145,448 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2006
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fernando Vincenzini
• Original Assignee: Fernando Vincenzini
• Inventors: Vincenzini, Fernando
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Drew A
• Assistant Examiner(s): HENSON, MISCHITA L
• Application Number:
  US11/614,848
• Publication Number:
  US 20070100577A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 702/142, 702150-155, 702/158, 702/176, 702182-185, 702/188, 463 58- 60
• US Class Current: 702/150
• CPC Class Codes: A63K 3/00 Equipment or accessories for racing or riding sports training equipment for animals A01K15/02
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/06 using intensity measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/24 Race time-recorders

Abstract

A system and a process for determining the timing and position of contestants on a track. This system comprises at least one directional antenna in communication with at least one competitor communication device that can be coupled to each contestant. A remote base station, is in communication with the positioning device, wherein the positioning device determines a contestant time as the contestant passes the projected field and also determines the position of the contestant in relation to an inside guide such as a rail. There is also a process which includes attaching at least one competitor communication device on at least one contestant, starting a race, and then recording the position and time for each contestant and transmitted from the competitor communication device to a remote base station.

Claims

1. A system for determining-a particular position of an individual contestant in a race and a position on a track of that contestant wherein the system comprises:

at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna positioned at a position on one side of the track and for creating and broadcasting an encoded radio signal across the track;

at least one competitor communication device which can be coupled to each contestant and which can be used to read the encoded radio signal;

at least one remote receiving station for receiving at least one transmission from said competitor communication device;

wherein said at least one competitor communication device has at least one processor, and at least one antenna, which is configured to measure a position of a competitor relative to an inside rail of a track, and is configured to determine a position, speed and time of a contestant as that contestant is passing said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna, by measuring an amplitude, and recording a time of crossing a peak position of the signal, and transmitting a set of captured information comprising said position, speed and time of a contestant, including a position of at least one contestant relative to an inside rail of a track to said remote receiving station.

2. The system as in claim 1, wherein said at least one competitor communication device comprises at least one microprocessor which contains a set of instructions which creates a unique identity for said competitor communication device identifying the contestant using the competitor communication device as a node in a wireless network, and wherein said at least one remote receiving station is configured to determine a position, speed and time of a competitor based upon a slope and amplitude of a signal received from said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna.

3. The system as in claim 2, further comprising at least one transceiver wherein said microprocessor contains a time division multiple access (TDMA) protocol to set a periodic time for transmission to and from said transceiver to said remote receiving station to avoid collision or interference of a signal.

4. The system as in claim 1, further comprising an infrared beam sensor system positioned adjacent to at least one of said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna wherein said infrared sensor system'"'"'s beam is broken when a contestant crosses a path of said infrared beam sensor system to determine the time of a leading contestant.

5. The system as in claim 2, wherein the system is configured to determine a position of a contestant relative to a position of a stationary emitting antenna disposed adjacent to an inside rail on a racetrack by comparing a received signal curve to a pre-calibrated signal curve.

6. The system as in claim 1, wherein said remote receiving station is adapted to read an amplitude amount of a received signal.

7. The system as in claim 1, further comprising at least one antenna adjuster coupled to said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna, said at least one antenna adjuster being configured to adjust a pointing position of said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna.

8. The system as in claim 1, further comprising at least one solar power station coupled to said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna.

9. The system as in claim 1, wherein said at least one competitor communication device is configured to determine a position of a competitor in at least two dimensions comprising a first dimension relative to a position along a length of a track and a second dimension relative to a position relative to an inside rail of a track.

10. A system for charting a position of at least one contestant in a race comprising:

at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna disposed adjacent to a running surface on a track for broadcasting an encoded radio signal, said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna being positioned on a side of the track and configured to be aimed to broadcast a signal across the track;

at least one adjustable antenna bracket, coupled to said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna, said antenna bracket configured to adjust the aiming position for said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna;

at least one competitor communication device which can be coupled to at least one contestant and which can be used to read said encoded radio signal wherein said at least one contestant comprises a plurality of contestants;

at least one remote base station;

wherein said competitor communication device determines a position, speed and time as each of said plurality of contestants as said plurality of contestants pass said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna, and wherein at least one of said plurality of contestant'"'"'s position, speed and time data is forwarded to said at least one remote base station; and

at least one display in communication with said at least one remote base station, wherein said at least one display displays the time, speed and position of one contestant of said plurality of contestants in relation to said plurality of contestants and said display includes a graphical representation of a set of top three finishers taken from said plurality of contestants at a plurality of different distance points of call throughout an entire race wherein said display indicates a distance each contestant is spaced from an inside rail of the track during the race.

11. The system as in claim 10, wherein said at least one display is in the form of screen including a graphical representation of a full field running order for each and all the contestants in a race and each contestant'"'"'s position in relation to at least one other contestant in the race and wherein the distance each competitor is spaced from an inside rail of the track is displayed in terms of an average width of each contestant.

12. The system as in claim 10, wherein said display includes a screen displaying a television based graphical representation which can be used to provide an instant race recap for each fraction and finish position depicting all contestants in the race.

13. The system as in claim 10, further comprising at least one solar power station coupled to said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna.

14. The system as in claim 10, wherein said at least one competitor communication device is configured to determine a position of a contestant in at least two dimensions comprising a first dimension relative to a position along a length of a track and a second dimension relative to a position relative to an inside rail of a track.

15. A process for setting up a data capture system and recording a live race data stream comprising:

positioning at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna on a side of a track;

aiming said stationary transmitting directional antenna across said track;

broadcasting an encoded radio signal across said track from one side of said track from said stationary transmitting directional antenna;

attaching at least one individual competitor communication device on at least one contestant, wherein said positioning device is equipped to receive, decode and measure a magnitude of said encoded radio signal on said at least one contestant;

starting a race;

recording a position, speed and time of the at least one contestant using said competitor communication device including recording the position of at least one contestant relative to an inside rail on the track;

reporting said position, speed and time of the at least one contestant on a display device including reporting the position of at least one contestant relative to said inside rail on the track.

16. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of recording the position, speed and time of the at least one contestant comprises recording the position, speed and time of the at least one contestant relative to an adjacent contestant.

17. The process as in claim 16, wherein said step of recording the position, speed and time of the at least one contestant comprises comparing the position, speed and time of at least one first contestant to at least one second contestant and then recording, reporting and displaying a difference in distance between the first contestant and the second contestant.

18. The process as in claim 17, wherein said step of recording the position, speed and time of the at least one contestant includes recording the position of at least one contestant relative to said inside rail on the track, by reading a received amplitude and comparing said received amplitude to a pre-calibrated amplitude curve of at least one contestant to indicate a distance from the inside rail on the racetrack.

19. The process as in claim 18, wherein said step of recording the position of at least one contestant relative to said inside rail on the track includes measuring the at least one contestant'"'"'s position based on an average width of a contestant and wherein said step of reporting a position, speed and time, comprises reporting said at least one contestant'"'"'s position based upon an average width of each contestant.

20. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of reporting a position of at least one contestant includes reporting on at least one display in a form of a screen including a graphical representation of a full field running order including each and all of the contestants in a race.

21. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of reporting a position of at least one contestant includes reporting a position of a plurality of contestants on a display which includes forming on said display a graphical representation of a set of top three finishers taken from said plurality of contestants at a plurality of different points of call throughout an entire race.

22. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of reporting a position includes providing a screen displaying a television based graphical representation which can be used to provide an instant snapshot of an arrival position at every fraction point of call and finish, depicting all contestants in the race.

23. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of recording a position, speed and time of the at least one contestant comprises recording a peak amplitude of a received signal associated with the at least one contestant.

24. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of recording a position, speed and time of the at least one contestant comprises recording an amplitude amount of a received signal.

25. The process as in claim 15 further comprising powering said at least one stationary transmitting directional antenna via solar power.

26. The process as in claim 15 wherein said step of recording the position, speed and time of the at least one contestant using said competitor communication device comprises recording a position of a contestant in at least two dimensions comprising a first dimension relative to a position along a length of a track and a second dimension relative to an inside rail of a track.

27. The process as in claim 15, wherein said step of reporting said position, speed and time of the at least one contestant on a display device comprises reporting in at least two dimensions including a first dimension relative to a position along a length of a track and a second dimension comprising reporting the position of at least one contestant relative to an inside rail on a track.

28. A process comprising:

broadcasting an encoded radio signal across a track from one side of a track via a stationary directional transmitting antenna positioned on said side of said track wherein said encoded radio signal includes information relating to a race distance point of call at which said stationary directional transmitting antenna is located;

electronically tracking a time, speed and position of at least two contestants in a race by receiving and decoding said encoded radio signal transmitted by said stationary directional transmitting emitter antenna;

transmitting an additional radio signal from a competitor communication device, wherein said additional radio signal includes information relating to a number of the competitor communication device, as well as information relating to the position of the stationary directional transmitting antenna at which the encoded radio signal was received, along with the position, speed and time of said competitor communication device;

receiving said additional radio signal in a base station;

recording a position, speed and time of each of said at least two contestants including comparing a position of at least one first contestant to a position of at least one second contestant based upon receiving said additional radio signal, obtaining a difference and then comparing the difference to an average length of the at least two contestants and an average width of each contestant and then comparing each position of said at least two contestants to a position of an inside rail on the track; and

reporting said position, speed and time of said at least two contestants on a display device by reporting the position in terms of an average width of at least one contestant relative to the inside rail on the track.

29. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of recording a position and time of said at least one contestant includes recording a position of at least one contestant relative to said inside rail on the track based upon an amplitude of a received signal.

30. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of recording a position of said at least two contestants includes recording a position of at least two contestants relative to said inside rail and wherein said position is determined based upon comparing a received amplitude curve of a signal from said transmitted encoded radio signal to a pre-calibrated power curve stored in a memory of the competitor device.

31. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of reporting a position of at least two contestants includes reporting on at least one display in a form of screen including a graphical representation of a full field running order for each of the contestants in a race.

32. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of reporting a position of at least two contestants includes reporting a position of a plurality of contestants on a display which includes forming on said display a graphical representation of a set of top three contestants in terms of finishing order, taken from said plurality of contestants at a plurality of different points of call throughout an entire race.

33. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of reporting a position includes providing a graphical representation which can be used to provide an instant race recap for each fraction point of call and finish position for each contestant.

34. The process as in claim 28, wherein said step of electronically tracking the position, speed and time of at least two contestants includes:

attaching at least one individual contestant positioning device on each of the at least two contestants, wherein said positioning device is equipped to read and decode the encoded radio signal and measure an amplitude of said encoded radio signal.

35. A display for providing information relating to a contestant in a race comprising:

a plurality of graphical representation elements wherein each graphical representation element represents a contestant in a race wherein each contestant is represented by a corresponding graphical representation element,

a race clock representing a race-time of arrival by a lead contestant at each distance point of call and finish during a race;

wherein each graphical representation element is arranged in an order on the display to indicate an order of contestants in the race;

wherein each graphical representation element includes a number corresponding to the number of a contestant;

at least one graphical distance indicator indicating a distance that each contestant is positioned in relation to said lead contestant wherein said graphical distance indicator is positioned adjacent to the number corresponding to the number of said contestant and wherein said graphical distance indicator indicates a distance that each contestant is spaced based upon an average length of a contestant and a distance that each contestant is spaced from an inside rail on a track.

36. The display as in claim 35, wherein the display further comprises a video display of all the contestants.

37. The display as in claim 35, further comprising a second set of a plurality of graphical representation elements wherein each element in said second set of elements represents a distance that each associated-contestant is spaced from in relation to a leading contestant in the race.

38. The display as in claim 37, wherein each graphical representation element represents distance as a fraction of a length of a contestant.