I-Lap Drone Racing Timing System Lap Counting Gate - Part 1: Unboxing

We've been racing locally and using stop watches on our phones to record lap times and manually counting laps. This has worked alright, but it is difficult to get pilots to record all their lap times. Usually we end up only recording the fastest and so there is no record of improvement. Also, using manual timing systems introduce a range of error - people stopping their lap times at varying points through the gate, missing timing the laps entirely, or miscounting the total laps.

Getting a timing system is by no means required, but it does add to the fun and the computer is always paying attention. We currently use a 6' tall gate as the start/finish line. A 6' tall gate requires 4 bridge sensors to properly read transponders. We're starting with 20 transponders. We may not actually use that many now, but later, we may either acquire more pilots in our group or some pilots may wish to have more than one so they do not have to move them between quadcopters. Also, having a few extras allows them to be "rented" at the events to try to recoup some of the initial costs.

For our local drone racing group, we are starting with these items which are also shown in this video:
1 x Decoder Unit
4 x Bridge Sensor
2 x 10 pack Transponders

There are various applications which are compatible with this system. The included software is a limited version of "RC Scoring Pro". An open-source free version is named "Flip Side Racing".

I-Laps Components: http://www.rclapcounter.com/
RC Scoring Pro: http://www.rcscoringpro.com/
Flip Side Racing: http://www.flipsideracing.org/