DannyBoyC6

Hi all, I've been using my GoPro Hero 2 in-car video camera for a year now and love reviewing the footage, using visual markers to verify lap times (within 0.5s or so), overlay laps and view corner lines and which is quicker, etc.

Next, I'd really like a way to find a way to record true lap times (via external GPS puck talking to my phone? ) and ideally also grab MPH and even RPM to overlay with the videos via bluetooth from my phone to a OBD-II port device (again -- how would I tie it together?).

There are some phone apps out there but I assume you need to record video *on the phone* to overlay the data??? I'm a little confused as to which pieces of the puzzle are needed to make this happen. There are quite a few threads in this section on the topic but I'm unclear as to which devices / software are integrated and which are optional, etc.

Track Master, TraqMate, Harry's Lap Timer, GPS pucks, OBD-II readers, etc. plus my GoPro video makes it a little dicey to put it all together.

Another big question: do the GPS track apps know *all* of the road courses or just the big ones? I go mainly to the North Texas tracks -- Motorsport Ranch / Cresson, Eagles Canyon Raceway / Decatur, Texas Motor Speedway infield.

Thanks in advance if anyone can lay out the basics of what connects to what!

Thanks,
Dan

Scooter70

There are computer applications that will overlay data on to video. Racerender is the one that I've used to combine Trackmaster data (Android phone) with my GoPro video.



First question: Do you have an iPhone or Android?

0Richard@M-World

Depending on your budget and what you want, here are a couple of solutions with their pros/cons.

If you want lap times only... Harry's lap timer if you have an iPhone. There are other smart phone apps available for Android as well, but the accuracy and reliability varies.

If you want lap times and basic data (speed, position, G's)... AiM Solo. It has over 117+ tracks preloaded, and ECR, MSRC, MSRH, TWS, H2R are already included. AiM Solo also has a 10 Hz GPS accurate to 0.0015 seconds. You also get to download your data into RS2Analysis, which is a professional data analysis software.

If you want lap times and advanced data (s/p/G + RPM, throttle position, individual wheel speed, steering angle, etc.)... AiM Solo DL. It comes with an OBDII cable which you can plug directly into your car and download 22 channels of data up to 10-20 Hz each in real time.

The alternative is a Harry's lap timer with a BT OBDII, GPS upgrade, etc. which some people use. The downside is that accuracy will never be as good as a dedicated device. Reliability is also an issue under hot Texas sun.

Finally, if you want lap times, data, and video... New SmartyCam HD will record all of it in one device on an SD card. Like the Solo, it comes with 117+ tracks preloaded. Just turn it on and start driving.

Hope this helps.

--
Richard@M-World
www.m-world.us
info@m-world.us

Alludc

im real happy with my android phone and "torque" which does it all. Alternatively, I can use racerender to move my torque data to my gopro vids as well

Bill Dearborn

I use Trackmaster on my Android phone to collect the GPS data and then use RaceRender to copy lay it over the video I take with a Flip Video camera. Not counting the Android phone I have $80 in the camera, $40 in the video software, $80 in a GPS receiver and about $15 in Trackmaster software. So for about $215 I have everything I need except the OBDII data such as RPM, brake and throttle indicators. If you go this way with either an iPhone or an Android phone just don't make the mistake I did and place your phone in the console, drink holders or glove compartment. The heat caused it to overheat to the point I got warning signals from the phone complaining about potential damage due to overheating. Since I didn't see the warning until after track sessions it overheated severely 3 or 4 times. Ever since then it has been a little flacky.

Here is a video I took earlier this year:


You can see the phone hanging in a windshield mount. That was the only place I could put it so I could reach it to start the app and not have it overheat. I could have started the app in the garage and then placed the phone in some sort of cool pack in the glove compartment but that meant a lot of useless data had to be run through before I could synch the data to the video.

Bill

DannyBoyC6

Thanks Scooter. I have an Android phone. HTC One X (so pretty new and Android 4.0).

Yeah, I've read that computer apps exist to overlay the data, so glad to hear that that you're using RaceRender. I'll note that you use TrackMaster. Do you tie into an external GPS, and do you pull in OBD2 data? If so, mind telling me which devices you purchased for the job?

Thanks!

DannyBoyC6

Thanks for the detailed reply, Richard. I'll look into the AIM Solo and the feature set. It's certainly on the top of what I was hoping to spend to get lap times and basic OBD2 data, but piecing it together might not yield much benefit over it.
Dan

DannyBoyC6

Thanks. Another vote for RaceRender.

Do you use external GPS and / or record OBD2 data to the Torque app? If so, what hardware do you use?

MarkDFW

Couple guys in my area use harrys lap timer and dashware to overlay that data on top of gopro video.

DannyBoyC6

Thanks, Bill. So you use TrackMaster instead of Torque for your Android app, and also use RaceRender to do the overlay. And, you use a Bluetooth GPS puck.

DannyBoyC6

One last question on this topic. I believe all phones can only connect to a single Bluetooth device, so if I'm BT connecting to a GPS device, I probably can't BT connect to an OBD2 device at the same time... True?

Since the GPS device provides the speed, that's really all I wanted anyway. So, I can toss the idea of getting OBD2 data and be quite happy with it.

Sounds like this is the plan then:
1) Pick between Torque and TrackMaster for my phone app.
2) Find a reputable external GPS device.
3) Install the RaceRender software.
4) Get a good phone mount

Then hit the track and try it all out!

Thanks for the help as always. This sub-forum is really useful, and CF in general is a fantastic resource.

DannyBoyC6

Thanks, Mark! I'll check out Dashware in lieu of RaceRender before piecing it together.

0Richard@M-World

Up to 7 devices for most late-model Bluetooth phones. You might need external power for your phone as BT can be power intensive.

Both RaceRender and DashWare are good post-processing tools. Here's a video made using DW, GoPro and AiM Solo. http://youtu.be/wbNkQRL1CCY

GL!

stevensa

Does torque record lap times via GPS like Trackmaster does along with the OBD 2 data from a device such as the PLX Kiwi?

DannyBoyC6

Thanks again, Richard. I'll check out DW as well.

DannyBoyC6

When I get some time to really dive into researching / comparing I'll chime back in with what I've found and what made my decisions for me.

Bill Dearborn

Yes. However, different phones react differently to the App which is probably true of most apps and phones. For instance, when I first purchased the app it was capable of using my LG Spectrum phone camera to record video. After an update it works on other phones but not the Spectrum. I get an MP4 file that is recorded in the phone storage but the phone can't play back the file and nothing else seems to be able to play it either although if I just use the phone camera to record something the phone can play back the MP4 file it's camera app generated. A little mystifying.

Do a little research on the Trackmaster Web Site user forums and see if there are any issues with the phone you have. They are constantly updating the app to handle various issues or to add improvements that people have asked for.

Trackmaster recommends setting the GPS device for 5 times per second updates Vs 10 since you get too much data at the 10 rate. At 120 mph you are traveling 176 ft/sec and if the GPS is updating 5 times a second you are basically updating your location every 35 ft. At 180 you are updating every 53 ft. Cut those numbers in half if you are updating at 10 times per second but then you have to worry about how accurate your GPS unit is and whether or not the data is really useful.

Bill

Scooter70

I use the Qstarz Q818X bluetooth GPS receiver that Jeff (the developer of Trackmaster) suggested. He has been hinting at implementing some sort of OBD2 logging into TM but hasn't given any kind of timeframe that I've seen. As a note: I leave the GPS module in the cupholder and close it when I'm on track and haven't had any issues getting a signal so you don't need to worry about necessarily mounting it out in the open.

-Matt

crimlwC6

I've used both torque and trackmaster. Torque can do laptimes but not until you use race render (I dont recall exactly how its done but I know I've done it). I'm trying to run torque on an old phone with a bluetooth OBDII and run trackmaster on my current phone. So far torque has failed (or the old phone) to capture the data and be able to transmit it to Racerender. If you don't care about getting immediate lap time feedback then torque is better because you can get throttle input data (worked on my c6 but only once on my c5) which is very helpful. So, for me, torque was great with my c6 because it would do lap times, speed and throttle input (and a ton of other data) but torque isn't working so well with my c5. It is probably because my old phone doesn't get updates anymore.

RDnomorecobra

re: android I think the answer is basically to use torque for OBDII data, trackmaster for gps, track overlay on vid, lap times, g-meter, etc. I am waiting for trackmaster to also incorporate support for car data via OBDII. I've heard rumors that they've tried but it is overloading the device. I for one have not tried to run both trackmaster and torque at the same time then merge it all together with my video. too lazy. I have to look into the AIM devices mentioned above. I'd love a smartycam to do it all but I am running a '03 c5z. I understand smartycam works with CAN bus, '06+??