[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Fwd: [freegeek-social] Bike Counter for WNBR -- ideas? volunteers?

[Donald Delmar Davis]

I was thinking rfid myself.

On May 26, 2008, at 2:46 PM, subbies at redheadedstepchild.org wrote:

> Er......give everyone a number to stick on their bike before the race
> starts?
>
> I don't know that this is a very sexy technological solution.  Then  
> again,
> I'm not sure having 1000 specimens of the average Portlander naked on
> bikes is very sexy either. But if you're dying for a piece of  
> technology,
> maybe you could use a hand tally counter - it's a mechanical button
> device connected to several rotating number wheels.  Biologists use  
> them
> when counting things all the time. Mechanics + naked biological  
> specimens
> = sexy?
>
> -Alexis
>
> + --------
>   redheadedstepchild.org
>        ------- +
>
> On Sun, 25 May 2008, Daniel Johnson wrote:
>
> ::Thought maybe someone here would be interested in devising a way to
> ::accuratly count 1000+ naked cyclists.
> ::
> ::
> ::---------- Forwarded message ----------
> ::From: Bobby Kovacich <lowtire at gmail.com>
> ::
> ::I don't think the hose would ever give an accurate count.  If you  
> want
> ::to know exactly, I would say having a picture/movie of the start and
> ::finish and maybe a few other points along the way and then count the
> ::individual bikes in the pictures.  I have the camera anda tripod...
> ::
> ::Bobby
> ::
> ::On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 4:44 PM, Steve Kirkendall
> ::<skirkendall at dsl-only.net> wrote:
> ::> I'm writing a countdown timer for the World Naked Bike Ride on  
> June 14,
> ::> and the question has been asked: What should it show when the  
> countdown
> ::> hits 00:00?  The most ambitious idea is a bike counter, so we'll  
> know
> ::> exactly how many bikes our ride has.  Last year, Portland tied  
> with
> ::> London for the largest rides in the world with about 800 riders  
> each,
> ::> but those were just estimates.  We're hoping for around 1200  
> riders this
> ::> year, and sole ownership of the title.
> ::>
> ::> Does anybody here have ideas on how to make a bike counter?  Do  
> you have
> ::> the hardware?  Do you know how to interface it to the computer?   
> And the
> ::> biggest question of all: Does anybody want to take on this  
> challenge,
> ::> bearing in mind that the ride takes place in less than three  
> weeks?
> ::>
> ::> Here's what I'm thinking:
> ::>
> ::> Well, first I guess I'm thinking that there's NO WAY I have time  
> to do
> ::> this myself.  But if I did, I'd look to get multiple segments of  
> hose,
> ::> like gas stations use to ring a bell when somebody drives up.  I  
> figure
> ::> we'd need multiple hoses because with over 1000 bikers crossing  
> a single
> ::> hose in a couple of minutes, the hose would just pretty much stay
> ::> flattened all the time; it'd count everybody as one really big  
> bike,
> ::> which is obviously not right.  So we need multiple hoses, each  
> with
> ::> its own transducer of some kind, all connected to a single  
> computer.
> ::>
> ::> An alternative sensor design would be to use light sensors about  
> 1cm
> ::> above the ground.  Again, with multiple sections.  I don't know  
> if this
> ::> would be easier to implement or more reliable than the hoses  
> though.
> ::>
> ::> To connect the sensors to the computer, one idea I had was to  
> get an
> ::> 8-port serial board, connect each sensor to the Carrier Detect  
> line,
> ::> and then write software that watch for changes to all those CD  
> lines.
> ::> (I think 8 sections would be adequate.  I haven't done the  
> research
> ::> though.)
> ::>
> ::> --
> ::> Steve Kirkendall  /  kirkenda at cs.pdx.edu  /  skirkendall at dsl-only.net
> ::> "Get a bicycle.  You will not regret it.  If you live." -- Mark  
> Twain
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