Trip Logging

Quoted message said:

Hi All,
I would like to apologies for this post if it breaks this newsgroups
rules and etiquette in advance. I am in the process of writing some
software that enables you to log your rides and hence see your progress
over time. In a few weeks time, I shall have a beta release that will
allow you to login and store your ride information. I am currently
looking for 10 testers who would like to use this system and provide me
with:

You're aware that there's quite a lot of these already out there?

Quoted message said:

Hi All,
I would like to apologies for this post if it breaks this newsgroups
rules and etiquette in advance. I am in the process of writing some
software that enables you to log your rides and hence see your progress
over time.

Right, so we have a spreadsheet (even if I'm too thick to do graphs in
gnumeric).

what are you providing that is extra?

Quoted message said:

In a few weeks time, I shall have a beta release that will
allow you to login and store your ride information. I am currently
looking for 10 testers who would like to use this system

err, operating system?
probably mickeysoft virus ware.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hi All,
I would like to apologies for this post if it breaks this newsgroups
rules and etiquette in advance. I am in the process of writing some
software that enables you to log your rides and hence see your progress
over time.

Right, so we have a spreadsheet (even if I'm too thick to do graphs in
gnumeric).

Put it away tiger. Rather than a bit of geek flexing, your post is
providing no real benefit to this group.

Quoted message said:

what are you providing that is extra?

Now we get to something I can reply to properly. Thankyou for asking a
serious question.
I am hoping to:
a. Create a fairly tight community.
b. The ability to log your rides (duh)
c. Integrate the data with your riding goals and objectives, so that
you will be able to map your progress hopefully better than you
currently do.
d. If the idea takes off, I am looking at engineering a hardware data
logger.

I love cycling, I love attempting to get fitter and stronger, so I
thought this might be a way to use both of my passions in life (cycling
and software).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In a few weeks time, I shall have a beta release that will
allow you to login and store your ride information. I am currently
looking for 10 testers who would like to use this system

Quoted message said:

err, operating system?

Its web based.

Quoted message said:

probably mickeysoft virus ware.

No doubt. Would you have preferred I use Perl? Or how about that
wonderfully lovely language that is Java?

I hope that answers some of your questions, please feel free to
continue with your whole [censored] measuring geek contest.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hi All,
I would like to apologies for this post if it breaks this newsgroups
rules and etiquette in advance. I am in the process of writing some
software that enables you to log your rides and hence see your progress
over time.

Right, so we have a spreadsheet (even if I'm too thick to do graphs in
gnumeric).

Put it away tiger. Rather than a bit of geek flexing, your post is
providing no real benefit to this group.

Quoted message said:

what are you providing that is extra?

Now we get to something I can reply to properly. Thankyou for asking a
serious question.
I am hoping to:
a. Create a fairly tight community.
b. The ability to log your rides (duh)
c. Integrate the data with your riding goals and objectives, so that
you will be able to map your progress hopefully better than you
currently do.
d. If the idea takes off, I am looking at engineering a hardware data
logger.

I love cycling, I love attempting to get fitter and stronger, so I
thought this might be a way to use both of my passions in life (cycling
and software).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In a few weeks time, I shall have a beta release that will
allow you to login and store your ride information. I am currently
looking for 10 testers who would like to use this system

Quoted message said:

err, operating system?

Its web based.

Quoted message said:

probably mickeysoft virus ware.

No doubt. Would you have preferred I use Perl? Or how about that
wonderfully lovely language that is Java?

I hope that answers some of your questions, please feel free to
continue with your whole [censored] measuring geek contest.

Instead of your continuation of the mini wing [censored] worlds...

Can you tell us what your product will do, that others haven't done
already? As someone mentioned earlier, there are a hell of a lot out
there already.

(I like Roger Cortesi's digital athletic log, even if I don't use it,
because I just like my paper diary, I only train once a month or so
anyway...)

Tam

Quoted message said:

Instead of your continuation of the mini wing [censored] worlds...

🙂
Sorry all.

Quoted message said:

Can you tell us what your product will do, that others haven't done
already? As someone mentioned earlier, there are a hell of a lot out
there already.

To be completely honest, I noticed this just the other day. To be fair
there are some fairly good systems out there.
In essence the system will:
1. Log user rides and provide graphical data.
Including:
*Route description.
*Route Distance
*Time Taken
*Start Location
*End location
*Ride description --> tempreture, wind, how you felt.
*Average heart rate
*Cals burnt.
My ultimate goal is to create a data logger for a bike, that
essentially maps your cadence, distance, time, speed, heart rate and so
forth. The data is logged to an SD or USB drive that is then imported
into your database.
This would allow us to graph some fairly interesting things.
cadence v speed.
cadence v time.
cadence v heart rate.
This sort of data would be able to provide you with an awful lot of
information. However this is still some way away (possibly 6 months)

2. Training targets
* Goal average speed per route.
* Goal time per route.
* Goal cadence per route.
* Goal heart rate per route.

3. Blogs that will allow the community to grow and be inspired.

4. The ability to organise training rides, or to find a cyclist /
groups to ride with and so on.

At the end of the day, it is an idea I have had for some time - its
obviously not original, although I did think it was 🙁
If I only have 10 people use the system, at least 10 people are using
something that I developed with the very best intentions.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Instead of your continuation of the mini wing [censored] worlds...

🙂
Sorry all.

Quoted message said:

Can you tell us what your product will do, that others haven't done
already? As someone mentioned earlier, there are a hell of a lot out
there already.

To be completely honest, I noticed this just the other day. To be fair
there are some fairly good systems out there.
In essence the system will:
1. Log user rides and provide graphical data.
Including:
*Route description.
*Route Distance
*Time Taken
*Start Location
*End location
*Ride description --> tempreture, wind, how you felt.
*Average heart rate
*Cals burnt.
My ultimate goal is to create a data logger for a bike, that
essentially maps your cadence, distance, time, speed, heart rate and so
forth. The data is logged to an SD or USB drive that is then imported
into your database.
This would allow us to graph some fairly interesting things.
cadence v speed.
cadence v time.
cadence v heart rate.
This sort of data would be able to provide you with an awful lot of
information. However this is still some way away (possibly 6 months)

2. Training targets
* Goal average speed per route.
* Goal time per route.
* Goal cadence per route.
* Goal heart rate per route.

3. Blogs that will allow the community to grow and be inspired.

4. The ability to organise training rides, or to find a cyclist /
groups to ride with and so on.

At the end of the day, it is an idea I have had for some time - its
obviously not original, although I did think it was 🙁
If I only have 10 people use the system, at least 10 people are using
something that I developed with the very best intentions.

I already log my ride times and distances and have done for the past 3
years, but I have thought about creating a data logger, not for any
training purposes, but just for curiosity. My problem is that my
electronics skills are hardly 'leet.

Of course, the data logger I had in mind would include distance, time,
cadence, HR and altitude. Temp might be another.

Really I just want to generate the speccy graphs like I used to get when
I played Grand Prix 2 😉

--
BrettS

Quoted message said:

Put it away tiger. Rather than a bit of geek flexing, your post is
providing no real benefit to this group.

I don't know, it obtained some basics about your proposal that were
missing before i.e. you are writing a internet web application that
people can log into and enter their ride data for future comparison.

And step one, you want to charge money for this service.

Quoted message said:

d. If the idea takes off, I am looking at engineering a hardware data
logger.

Quoted message said:

I love cycling, I love attempting to get fitter and stronger, so I
thought this might be a way to use both of my passions in life (cycling
and software).

Even as a intermediate step, it would probably be a better idea to adapt
something on the market, i.e design an interface to a commercially
available PDA/logger and utilise existing bicycle/commercial sensors.

GPS card + existing bicycle odometer with interface + other sensors[1]

Do you really want to spend your time soldering surface mount components
to copper? And do your software skills include assembler?

[1] there was a discussion about "temperature" readings in existing
bicycle "odometers" in this newsgroup sometime ago that you might like
to read.

My 2c is to sell different levels of service to cater for the different
hardware people have. When you go out for your next training ride, look
at the different handlebar toys that people have. You will quickly build
a good idea of "market".

And as people have pointed out, some of this stuff is already available
and perhaps your service would be best aimed at enhancing their
investment in their existing toys.

Quoted message said:

I hope that answers some of your questions, please feel free to
continue with your whole [censored] measuring geek contest.

Why bother. You blew up on the first bit of pressure. Grow a thick skin.
You have a long way to go with this project.

BrettS said:

I already log my ride times and distances and have done for the past 3
years, but I have thought about creating a data logger, not for any
training purposes, but just for curiosity. My problem is that my
electronics skills are hardly 'leet.

Doesn't matter unless low weight and low power consumption are important
{:-).

Do any existing bicycle toys^h^h^h^h"odometers" have download
interfaces? How much would you spend on a PDA to do this?

Or might be easier to adapt an old laptop for this, old meaning serial
and or parrallel port and utilise the circuits in Silicon Chip some time
ago.
New-old lappie would have usb interface.

Lappies interest me because I have some and they usually have a PCMCIA
slot to take a GPS card.

Quoted message said:

Of course, the data logger I had in mind would include distance, time,
cadence, HR and altitude. Temp might be another.

All do-able, just another interface card plugged into the the bus back
plane.

I am beginning to think that I should not have junked those 7 vote
counting "computers" that were binned recently. S100 bus, 8 cards
6"x10", 8085 chips(kept those), etc. Perhaps it was the fact that I'd
have needed a bob trailer to tow the batteries to power it.

But seriously, that is how you would start, until you sort out each
sensor, then over time and versions it could shrink until you have a
bottle cage version that you unplug and bring inside to connect to power
pack and computer interface cable.

Quoted message said:

To be completely honest, I noticed this just the other day. To be fair
there are some fairly good systems out there.
In essence the system will:
1. Log user rides and provide graphical data.

<etc>

Who cares?

Theo

Theo Bekkers said:

Quoted message said:

To be completely honest, I noticed this just the other day. To be fair
there are some fairly good systems out there.
In essence the system will:
1. Log user rides and provide graphical data.

<etc>

Who cares?

Theo

Good point. I'd be more interested in a helmet cam that satisfies two
important criteria:
1. CHEAP
2. EFFECTIVE

Tam

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:23:31 +1000

Tamyka Bell said:

Good point. I'd be more interested in a helmet cam that satisfies two
important criteria:
1. CHEAP
2. EFFECTIVE

The one I got which is about the size of a medium C cell torch was
fairly cheap and seems effective. Not quite good enough for
numberplates at a distance though.

It's a bit large for a helmet, the weight is obvious, but it fits on
the bars OK. (although you do get the very distracting pedalling going
on in the bottom of the screen...)

Drawback is that there's no viewing ability, you have to have a PDA
that can take SD cards and you pop the card in that to check the
result.

Bit annoying, and so I'm going to a much more expensive setup.
Miniaturization costs a lot, so small and good ain't cheap.

I have the miniDV camcorder, off to MAW on the weekend to arrange the
small camera to feed it with.

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone said:

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:23:31 +1000

Tamyka Bell said:

Good point. I'd be more interested in a helmet cam that satisfies two
important criteria:
1. CHEAP
2. EFFECTIVE

The one I got which is about the size of a medium C cell torch was
fairly cheap and seems effective. Not quite good enough for
numberplates at a distance though.

It's a bit large for a helmet, the weight is obvious, but it fits on
the bars OK. (although you do get the very distracting pedalling going
on in the bottom of the screen...)

Drawback is that there's no viewing ability, you have to have a PDA
that can take SD cards and you pop the card in that to check the
result.

Bit annoying, and so I'm going to a much more expensive setup.
Miniaturization costs a lot, so small and good ain't cheap.

I have the miniDV camcorder, off to MAW on the weekend to arrange the
small camera to feed it with.

Zebee

Steven bought one of those olympus shockproof waterproof 7.1 megapixel
cameras for his trip to France. It takes up to 35 minutes of video with
sound, with his new card in there. Might just figure out an effective
bar mount for this.

Tam

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 13:51:19 +1000

Tamyka Bell said:

Steven bought one of those olympus shockproof waterproof 7.1 megapixel
cameras for his trip to France. It takes up to 35 minutes of video with
sound, with his new card in there. Might just figure out an effective
bar mount for this.

Friend of mine made a metal bracket for his motorcycle and stuck the
camera to it with a serious magnet.

Maybe use the bar mount off an old reflector or cheap light, magnet
glued to that, and a strip of velcro over the camera as a backup?

Zebee