Open Race Timing

A free, easy to use race timing app

About ORT

OpenRaceTiming is an Open Source, free to use timing application using NFC tags. Single device timing with NFC tags works OK, future features planned include:

  • Multi-device registration and finish
  • Adding contestants direct in the app instead of a spreadsheet (entry on the day)
  • Checkpoints and live updates
  • Tap and identify separately like a traditional timing system (for greater precision)

HOWTO

Using ORT to time a race

Create a race

Click on the 'settings' button in the tab bar at the bottom of the screen

You'll see the display above. Tap 'New Race'. Tap on the 'Enter race name' text and enter the name of your race

Tap on 'click to enter date', and choose your date using the date selector.

Tap 'Add Race'. Your race will appear in the list to select.

Add entrants

In 'settings' select the race you want to time. The display will switch to 'Registration'

Tap on 'import csv' and select the file containing your entrants

Assuming the file loads OK, your entrants will appear in a list.

Register entrants with an NFC tag

Tap on an entrants name, which will highlight

Present the NFC tag to the phone wherever the reader is (usually top-back, near the camera)

A notification will sound, and the row in the table will go bold

Start the race

In the 'timing' tab click on 'start'. This will write the start time to the data store to allow calculating finish times.

Record a finish

Currently there is only one way to record a finish: present the finishers NFC tag to the reader on the phone. You will hear a notification sound and the display will show the finishers name/identifier and time.

As each persons tag is presented to the phone it will record the finishes.

Export results

In the 'results' tab, click on 'write to file'. It will prompt you to select a folder. The filename will be the name & date of the race, with a .csv suffix. You can open this in Excel on your phone, or send to a PC.

The results file is a duplicate of the original entrants file, with the addition of the nfc id field and the elapsed time field.

What are NFC tags?

NFC stands for Near Field Co mmunication. It's the tech behind contactless payment, electronic gym lockers and a load of other things. You can buy programmable nfc tags from a number of different sources, and in a number of different formats.

Simple stickers cost a few pennies. You can also buy silicon wrist bands, keyrings etc. Just search for NTAG213 (I've tested with NTAG213).

Devices

You can get a list of devices that support nfc here.

File format

You can use any csv file (exported from Excel for example) as an import for ORT. The first two fields taken together should be unique (bib number and name maybe, or name & club).

At the end of the race when you export the results, you'll get back your csv file with 2 new columns - the nfc id assigned and the competitors time.

Getting involved

How to tell us about bugs, get involved with development etc

ORT is hosted on Github. You can raise issues there, and also download the sourcecode so you can make your own changes/improvements. If you want to submit code to ORT please create a Pull Request.