Here is a basic App for Android and I’m looking for some beta testers to feedback its effectiveness. Essentially, you enter sail numbers using the app as boats are finishing. These results are then saved as a .csv file for importing into Sailwave. Like I say, it’s very basic at the moment as I need to validate the usefulness and practicality of entering sail numbers in this way as boats are finishing.
There will no doubt be some bugs and functionality issues, and I’d be happy to hear about them, but my main concern is the sail number entry. The csv file is saved in your external storage (SD Card or equivalent) in 0/rc_pro/easyfinish.csv. You can use a variety of apps to transfer the csv file across a WiFi network to your PC running Sailwave, or use a USB stick if your device supports it.
If you download the app then please let me know if you have used it for real, even just as a backup of a paper-based system.
If the app is well received I will develop it further to increase features.
Hi Andy, I’ve installed the App which I thought would be useful, but it doesn’t seem to do anything? Allows sail numbers to be keyed in but nothing else. I’ve tried on a Moto G 3rd generation Android 6.0 and a Nexus 7.
Regards, Robin
Here is a basic App for Android and I’m looking for some beta testers to feedback its effectiveness. Essentially, you enter sail numbers using the app as boats are finishing. These results are then saved as a .csv file for importing into Sailwave. Like I say, it’s very basic at the moment as I need to validate the usefulness and practicality of entering sail numbers in this way as boats are finishing.
There will no doubt be some bugs and functionality issues, and I’d be happy to hear about them, but my main concern is the sail number entry. The csv file is saved in your external storage (SD Card or equivalent) in 0/rc_pro/easyfinish.csv. You can use a variety of apps to transfer the csv file across a WiFi network to your PC running Sailwave, or use a USB stick if your device supports it.
If you download the app then please let me know if you have used it for real, even just as a backup of a paper-based system.
If the app is well received I will develop it further to increase features.
Same experience as Robin using Nexus 5 and latest Android. We have a regatta in 2 weeks and I would have tried it during that. As it stands I can use it simply to record the non-handicap fleet (Musto Skiff) and transfer to Sailwave. However it would be much better to have times too for handicap fleets. Haven’t tried to transfer data yet.
Hi Andy, I’ve installed the App which I thought would be useful, but it doesn’t seem to do anything? Allows sail numbers to be keyed in but nothing else. I’ve tried on a Moto G 3rd generation Android 6.0 and a Nexus 7.
Regards, Robin
Here is a basic App for Android and I’m looking for some beta testers to feedback its effectiveness. Essentially, you enter sail numbers using the app as boats are finishing. These results are then saved as a .csv file for importing into Sailwave. Like I say, it’s very basic at the moment as I need to validate the usefulness and practicality of entering sail numbers in this way as boats are finishing.
There will no doubt be some bugs and functionality issues, and I’d be happy to hear about them, but my main concern is the sail number entry. The csv file is saved in your external storage (SD Card or equivalent) in 0/rc_pro/easyfinish.csv. You can use a variety of apps to transfer the csv file across a WiFi network to your PC running Sailwave, or use a USB stick if your device supports it.
If you download the app then please let me know if you have used it for real, even just as a backup of a paper-based system.
If the app is well received I will develop it further to increase features.
When I’ve tried electronic recording systems I’ve always come a cropper with multiple close finishes. Either entering numbers or trying to select from a list I seem to end up in a horrible mess, and whereas with paper it usually seems possible to salvage something that is a reasonable approximation to what happened, with electronic systems the mess has been unresolvable.
Strongly advise having separate paper system independantly manned as cross check and backup until really confident in any electronic offering.
It does seem to me though that an app which does start sequences and records, videos and times finishes ought to be useful though. Wouldn’t it be good to have an app that prompted “flag P in 30secs”. I did have a humbling experience when our Club did Barts Bash, which was required to be videoed. Reviewing the video revealed a couple of errors in the paper order, which was highly disturbing. It was also the case that fully reviewing the video of the finishes took an unbelievable amount of time due to number of times had to stop, go back, slo mo etc.
The other problem I have is visibility in bright sunlight.
Not saying this isn’t worth trying, but hope simply to point out holes I’ve fallen in so others can avoid.
Hi Robin, thanks so much for trying it. Can you tell me if you are able to see the sail numbers you have entered when you navigate to 'show results ’ from the home screen?
Hi Richard, it’s a big help you trying the app. At the moment the basic functionality is to record sail numbers. It also works with my timing hardware to retrieve times over Bluetooth. The general concept is to not require any pre- race configuration to make it as easy as possible for OD’s to use it.
Can you confirm that you can at least see the sail numbers you have entered?
Hi Richard, it’s a big help you trying the app. At the moment the basic functionality is to record sail numbers. It also works with my timing hardware to retrieve times over Bluetooth. The general concept is to not require any pre- race configuration to make it as easy as possible for OD’s to use it.
Can you confirm that you can at least see the sail numbers you have entered?
Hi Richard, thanks for the confirmation. That means that it’s working. You were probably expecting a lot more functionality but before I invest a lot of time in the app I am eager to see how people respond to entering sail numbers using a phone or tablet.
I am also keen to keep the solution simple so once-a-year OD’s can use it easily.
If the solution is viable I will push forward with developing a more complete app.
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you about the paper based system. It’s very easy to cross out a number and scribble a new one in its place very quickly and I don’t know of any electronic system that offers the same level of ease. That’s why my app is very basic at the moment as I need to know if entering sail numbers using a phone or tablet is viable.
The app will communicate with my electronic timer and can receive times over the Bluetooth connection. The times are quite accurate as they are obtained using a handheld trigger which can be fired in quick succession. It’s the same trigger that fires the horn.
Andy,
Have uninstalled and reinstalled on the Nexus this morning and confirmed the keyboard does not load on that device. It’s works ok as described by Richard on the Moto G. Several boaty apps including iRegatta don’t work on the Nexus which is about 3 years old so it’s not something you have done wrong, just an irritating feature of the Nexus I guess. At the moment without the time function I can’t use it for our cruiser races but I’ll show it to the one-design OOD who works from a RIB and may well be interested.
Robin
Hi Richard, thanks for the confirmation. That means that it’s working. You were probably expecting a lot more functionality but before I invest a lot of time in the app I am eager to see how people respond to entering sail numbers using a phone or tablet.
I am also keen to keep the solution simple so once-a-year OD’s can use it easily.
If the solution is viable I will push forward with developing a more complete app.
I am getting slightly different milage from others who have tried your app.
Tested with Android 5.1.1 on Kindle Fire hardware. The tablet is “Rooted” and running Slim ROM 5.1.1 not the stock ROM version.
After pressing the “Enter Sail Number” tab I get a pop-up asking if I want to delete results. After making either selection I get a page, but no Keypad for data entry. So not able to entre anything. A directory and CSV file are created on the flash system.
Further only the Setup tab follows the display auto rotate (portrait\landscape) function.
Regards
Kevan
There are 10 kinds of people. Those who understand binary, and those who do not.
···
From: “andybakin@gmail.com [sailwave]” Sent: Fri Jul 22 22:21:18 GMT+01:00 2016 To:sailwave@yahoogroups.com Subject: [sailwave] Re: Calling for Beta testers: New App for Sailwave (.csv file export)
Hi Richard, it’s a big help you trying the app. At the moment the basic functionality is to record sail numbers. It also works with my timing hardware to retrieve times over Bluetooth. The general concept is to not require any pre- race configuration to make it as easy as possible for OD’s to use it.
Can you confirm that you can at least see the sail numbers you have entered?
I have a Nexus 2013 7" running Android 6.0.1 Marshmellow and it works OK. Can you tell me what version of Android you have please? If you go to Settings>About tablet you should see the version number. It has to be 4.3 or higher. If it’s below this you are running an old version of Android operating system and should upgrade.
The idea behind the app is to leave capturing times to external hardware for accuracy, that way the sail numbers can be entered on the app even before a boat has finished. As long as the order they are captured in is the same order as the finish times then the two will synchronise. It’s all rather experimental however at this stage.
Ah!, well spotted, as a bit of a cheat I have locked most of the activities in the app to portrait so I don’t have to cater for each activity restarting every time the user changes orientation.
Now, I don’t know anything about Kindle hardware so I will look into that. What’s the main differences between Android on, say, my Nexus and on your Kindle? As far as I know Kindle is customised by Amazon and so might not use the same API’s? Like I say, I’ll do some research.
Wouldn’t your app be able to pick up time of day from the device
(cellphone, etc) ?
i.e. when a number is entered, it also picks up a local time?
Is / will there be a facility to be able to enter race start time(s)
?
···
regards,
Malcolm Osborne
Rondevlei South Africa
On 2016-07-23 00:27,
[sailwave] wrote:
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you about the
paper based system. It’s very easy to cross out a number
and scribble a new one in its place very quickly and I
don’t know of any electronic system that offers the same
level of ease. That’s why my app is very basic at the
moment as I need to know if entering sail numbers using a
phone or tablet is viable.
The app will communicate with my electronic timer and
can receive times over the Bluetooth connection. The times
are quite accurate as they are obtained using a handheld
trigger which can be fired in quick succession. It’s the
same trigger that fires the horn.
I think this is the way the app will go. It seems people want it to accommodate times as well as sail numbers. Originally I had intended it to accompany my hardware (www.rc-pro.co.uk) but it seems the app may well take on a life of its own. Do you think it is practical to enter sail numbers quickly enough and maintain an accurate finish time?
I have not downloaded the app since I don’t have an android based system. However, it seems to me that if there was a pre-populated list of entrants, simply selecting the boat from the list as the boat crosses the line would be more efficient and more accurate. I know that Sailwave can export such a list.
Here is a basic App for Android and I’m looking for some beta testers to feedback its effectiveness. Essentially, you enter sail numbers using the app as boats are finishing. These results are then saved as a .csv file for importing into Sailwave. Like I say, it’s very basic at the moment as I need to validate the usefulness and practicality of entering sail numbers in this way as boats are finishing.
There will no doubt be some bugs and functionality issues, and I’d be happy to hear about them, but my main concern is the sail number entry. The csv file is saved in your external storage (SD Card or equivalent) in 0/rc_pro/easyfinish.csv. You can use a variety of apps to transfer the csv file across a WiFi network to your PC running Sailwave, or use a USB stick if your device supports it.
If you download the app then please let me know if you have used it for real, even just as a backup of a paper-based system.
If the app is well received I will develop it further to increase features.
I think this is the way the app will go. It seems people want it to accommodate times as well as sail numbers. Originally I had intended it to accompany my hardware (www.rc-pro.co.uk) but it seems the app may well take on a life of its own. Do you think it is practical to enter sail numbers quickly enough and maintain an accurate finish time?
I have looked into speech recognition at an embedded level but not running on a tablet. With the extra processing power of a tablet it might be worth trying. To be honest, I didn’t think there would be much need for another sailing app of this ilk as there are solutions already out there. May be it’s because they all require pre-configuration before being usable.
It seems people are interested so I will certainly look into what can be done on Android regarding speech recognition. It wouldn’t have to be full independent recognition as that requires a lot of power, but rather dependent where by the user programs a few commands in beforehand. They would only need programming once per user as they could saved on the device.
For now though, I’m curious about the keypad entry system. My own club is quite small an not particularly busy, so it’s difficult to know how it would scale up to larger venues.
I do not spend as much time on a committee boat as I should, and most of my racing is in OD where times are not an issue; I also am not much good at user interfaces… But,
I wonder if it would be possible to have a “dynamic” list of large buttons with sail (or bow) numbers. Dynamic such that the user could move them around (touch/hold and drag) to keep the next boats expected to finish grouped together and then just touch the button for each sail as they cross the line. The timestamp could be captured with the button press, and a user should be able to press buttons pretty quickly for boats close together. You could even look at sending a BT message to your horn hardware…
I think this is the way the app will go. It seems people want it to accommodate times as well as sail numbers. Originally I had intended it to accompany my hardware (www.rc-pro.co.uk) but it seems the app may well take on a life of its own. Do you think it is practical to enter sail numbers quickly enough and maintain an accurate finish time?
Might be a problem with a big fleet of Lasers, for example, but
there may be ways of overcoming this - bow no’s, only entering
last 3 digits.
···
regards,
Malcolm Osborne
Rondevlei South Africa
On 2016-07-23 14:50,
[sailwave] wrote:
Hi Malcolm,
I think this is the way the app will go. It seems
people want it to accommodate times as well as sail
numbers. Originally I had intended it to accompany my
hardware () but it seems the app may well
take on a life of its own. Do you think it is practical to
enter sail numbers quickly enough and maintain an accurate
finish time?
