Good timing! I've been thinking about buying an Android-based tablet, I'm frustrated that I can't check data from my DL1 between runs, and integrating video and data after the event is annoying. However, the tablet choices make my head spin! Does anyone have any recommendations?

My non-autocross uses for the tablet are mostly email, surfing, and watching movies, so nothing too powerful is needed.

 

Mike what's the hold up on my your setup can't work with a iPad? Harry did it, although not as good of a program.

 

Right, and Harry's Laptimer doesn't support Android - apps don't cross platform themselves you know.

Edit: just to be clear, no affiliation with Petrel other than using and really liking their software. Crotchety developer comments are my own.

 

The Tab 2 7" seems to be a popular choice, and I have one, but the processor could be a bit faster. I wonder how one of the latest Notes or other 'phablets' will do?

Harry is actually porting his software to android - I guess that he saw the writing on the wall. Android uptake is taking off like a rocket, and iOS sales growth is lagging. That and the small screen size of the phone doesn't make it very useful for applications such as this. As it is, his software looks like a good solution for casual lapping day timing.

Also, development for Android and iOS are *very* different. There are languages that let you write software once and run it on either device, but with all of the hardware integration that SoloStorm does, it's not really an option - at lease not yet. And at sub-$200 prices, the Android tablets are a steal. There are also some cheaper chinese-branded tablets in the market that work well enough.

 

It really depends on what you're looking to do for an end goal. your budget is pretty high and that will give you more options.

I previously ran a phone with trackmate and a 10hz GPS. it worked well, it got me to the easy 80% but it had it's drawbacks. The bluetooth OBD2 stuff helps a lot and gets you even further.

But having gone to a 'real' data system it's amazing how much more data is available at my fingertips. I run a racepak iq3 logging dash with a compatible haltech ECU and I have *so* much data at my finger tips. Now with that it takes a whole lot more time to interpret that data.

If camera/tab software is going to be as far as you're going to want to go you'll save yourself a pile of money and still be pretty well off (You can have my very lightly used bluetooth GPS for the price of a 6 pack)

If however you'd like to be able to have more data down the road I'd consider a real data setup. There are some lower cost 'open source' and similar data loggers that look really enticing - a data system itself tends to be semi 'affordable' but that tends to go downhill when you start adding things on. I'm intending on running shock travel sensors on all 4 corners and i'm currently setting up 6 tire temp sensors so I can see tire temps in real time on half the car at a time - something you couldn't do with a phone system.

All said and done - I'd recommend start with the camera/bluetooth stuff and see if it's enough - at the very least you'll end up with some bluetooth dongles you don't use when you go big data - at the best you'll save enough money on a data logger that you can buy a set of tires. And in the end isn't that how all real racing decisions are made - how many tires you trade for something...

 

Anyone know of good datalogging apps for Windows Phone?

 

windows phone? are those still exist?

 

Ran a small (~40 second) autox today and tried my Solo DL out to see if it works. It does not Times aren't accurate at least, and a lot of false starts/stops due to the proximity of the start and finish and the size of the course. The data is good, of course, but you have to dig through multiple runs to put anything together.

 

i just got all my stuff in from solostorm and tried it out tonight... i went out to an empty dead end road to just get familiar with everything. I purchased the obd2 and gps from petrel as well as the solostorm software. After playing with it for a couple of hours and getting to know it the only trouble I have is trying to set markers for it to start logging data and video at once. Easily solved by just selecting manual start and stop and just clicking it before a run. I have my galaxy s4 mounted via a modifry dash holder and my hero3 gopro is mounted on the center console in front of the windscreen. Everything seems to work great and I will have my first autox with it this coming weekend so I can truly get a feel for it and see if I can drop time.

Special thanks to mike from petrel for getting my order shipped fast and safe. Looking forward to using it more and if anyone has questions shoot me a pm and I can help answer them.

 

I picked up SoloStorm along with their packaged 10hz bluetooth gps about a month ago and had the chance to use it at two events. I must say that it seems to be better than HLT. I run it on a 1st gen nexus7 tablet which seems to work fine, the larger screen (than my iphail) is nice also. I built a mount to attach the nexus to the wind deflector over my right shoulder and use the nexus' only camera (forward facing) for video. My reason for this is time between runs. A gopro can upload video to the nexus and SS can sync the video to the data but this is something I did not want to wait on between runs. The video isn't high quality but it is perfectly useable. I'm not sure of the quality of the nexus accelerometers but the bluetooth gps is supposed to have its own, but again not sure of quality.

The first event I used it at was a Memphis NASA X where all 6 runs were taken in the same heat. The next event was an SCCA one at the very small Little Rock lot and between morning and afternoon runs I'm thinking the satellites moved enough to change the position of the logs. The map looked "clocked" a couple of degrees so it may require resetting the start and stop points between heats to keep all the runs somewhat comparable. Another little nag is the inability to edit start and stop points (easily?). I think the software has the capability but I have not had luck making it work like I want. This doesn't seem to be only this apps problem though as I have read others can have a problem with this too.

I have wanted a higher end DA setup for a while and since SS can be paired with Racekeeper Race capture or DL1 I am planning to do this during the off season. The DL1 seems to have more support as of now, the ability to log gps at 20hz (which to my knowledge is the best in the industry at their price point) plus add-on instrumentation like steering angle, brake force and throttle position (that I am not able to log at any usable rate using the OBD port on my AP1). The Racekeeper Race capture setup is newer I believe and does not have all the features that the DL1 has but it does have a 10hz GPS and three axis accelerometer along with a yaw sensor. It also has digital and analog inputs plus expansion port and can be setup for steering angle, brake force and throttle too.

I would instantly quit caring about all this if I could fix all the things wrong with my driving. Due to my regions lack of “alien” talent, the inability of faster codrivers to consistently make it to events (so I can steal their moves of course), this is my last ditch effort to try and fix years of practicing the wrong way around a course. I'm hoping Jon Caserta will chime in with his experiences integrating SS with a DL1 and clear up some of my misinformation.