Anyone Using Traqmate for Autox? If so, please help.

[gar7777]

I posted in an old thread but thought I should probably start my own.

I am trying to use Traqmate for autox analysis. In particular, I'd like to be able to compare one run to another. I can load them in but they are not synched up so it is difficult to compare them. Is anyone doing this now and, if so, how?

Thanks for any help.

[Track Systems]

We are aware of the limitations for AutoX and are working hard to make Traqmate a first rate AutoX analysis tool. There is a sneak peek posted about this. I would welcome your feedback.

http://traqmate.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=679

To answer your question, there are two methods I use to analyze autocross today.

1. Trim the sessions to the start point of the run and then overlay them.
2. Set a S/F right before the run and create a segment over the run area.

Perhaps other Traqmate users have some suggestions.

[gar7777]

We are aware of the limitations for AutoX and are working hard to make Traqmate a first rate AutoX analysis tool. There is a sneak peek posted about this. I would welcome your feedback.

http://traqmate.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=679

To answer your question, there are two methods I use to analyze autocross today.

1. Trim the sessions to the start point of the run and then overlay them.
2. Set a S/F right before the run and create a segment over the run area.

Perhaps other Traqmate users have some suggestions.

Thanks for the reply. I am looking forward to the new SW update making this much easier.

In the meantime, please exlain how to trim and then overlay the runs. I was able to trim no problem and then save each run as a separate session file but then I could not overlay the trimmed files. When I tried to "Add Driver" to import my trimmed run, it would only let me import the raw, untrimmed version. If I could only synch the runs this way, I think the comparison will work pretty well.

[Track Systems]

Load them all together into one analysis, trim them individually within the analysis and then and save the entire analysis. You can add non-trimmed session files to it later and trim the added session, also within that analysis.

[gar7777]

I tried that but it doesn't seem to work or I'm not doing it right. I can trim one of the runs but then I can't see how to go in and trim the other runs. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Here's what I did.

1. Loaded 6 runs
2. Selected Run1 and then trimmed it to start at the point of initial acceleration by looking at the LonG and Velocity charts vs. distance.
3. Select Run 2 and unselect Run 1.
4. Try to trim Run 2 but got the message: "Could not find any data for this driver. Try selecting more laps in the driver setup screen."
5. Since each "lap" is one autocross run, there is only one lap per session. I don't have any more laps to select for this driver.

What am I doing wrong?

[Track Systems]

Not sure what you are doing wrong but here are some notes that may help.

1. The trim sessions pop-up has a window at the top where you can select the session you want to trim. Use this to select and trim all the sessions.

2. To position the session to its start, use the slider to position the proper color dot to the start location, then trim that session.

Trim all sessions, then exit from the Trim Session pop-up window and save the results. If that does not work email us all your .tqm session files and we will try to duplicate your situation. support@traqmate.com.

[gar7777]

I may not have been clear, sorry. My problem is that each of the individual autox runs has a different amount of dead time at the beginning of the run (I guess we didn't always hit the start button the same amount of seconds prior to the run). This is a problem because the dots don't link up going around the track map (and so the XY traces don't line up either). I can trim all runs at once and take the first 5, 10 or whatever seconds off of all runs but I cannot seem to take 2 seconds off run 1, 5 seconds off run 2, etc., and thereby synch up run 1, run 2 and the other runs.

Does this make sense? Is there a way to trim different amounts off of each individual run?

[Track Systems]

Yes. You should be able to position each dot seperately (ignore all the others) then trim each one by selecting that run in the pulldown list on the Trim Sessions popup.

[gar7777]

OK. I figured it out last night. When you are in the Trim Sessions window, there is a pull-down menu which lets you select which session (autox run) you want to trim (I hadn't noticed this pull down menu in my earlier attempts). You use the play button to get to the point where you want that particular run to begin, then you trim that run. When you are done, you can select another run and eventually trim all runs to start at roughly the same point. Then the track map playback and the XY graphs vs. time all line up. Very nice!

Tips:
1. Start recording a few seconds before your run starts. I got best results starting the recording as soon as I was in position at the starting line. This allowed sufficient time for the unit to acquire GPS and start recording. It should also give you a few seconds of velocity = 0 (helpful for trimming).
2. Using the Track Map view of a few runs, identify which run starts first (which little dot leaves the line and starts on the course first). Then trim the dead time off the beginning of the other runs so their dots start moving at the same spot -- do this using a blow up of the Velocity vs. Time XY graph (zoom in so the X axis is shown in integral seconds). If all of the recordings have a few seconds of velocity = 0 at the beginning, it is easy to see where the velocity trace moves off 0 and slopes upward. Keep trimming as necessary to line the runs up here and they should be aligned for the whole run. Then you can watch a real time race using Track Map view and also see meaningful data on all of the XY graphs as well. Very cool!

[Todd]

Was the autox update ever made? It sure would be nice to align all the runs and trim them all in one shot Otherwise a quick analysis takes a half hour before you start analyzing. I sure am looking forward to the Traqview update. I hope all these things are addressed.

On another note, my last autox stopped recording early in the run, every run. I assume this is because I was in the same parking lot as an earlier event and it thought I reached the end. The weird part is looking at the Traqdash it appeared to still be recording? Any tips here? I try to create and name a new track each event, but that is a cumbersome job and more than half of the time I go through the process only to find the new track I created still does not exist.

[Andre' Surles]

Was the autox update ever made? It sure would be nice to align all the runs and trim them all in one shot Otherwise a quick analysis takes a half hour before you start analyzing. I sure am looking forward to the Traqview update. I hope all these things are addressed.

On another note, my last autox stopped recording early in the run, every run. I assume this is because I was in the same parking lot as an earlier event and it thought I reached the end. The weird part is looking at the Traqdash it appeared to still be recording? Any tips here? I try to create and name a new track each event, but that is a cumbersome job and more than half of the time I go through the process only to find the new track I created still does not exist.

Todd one thing you can do is to open your first run and save that. After than just load each new run in as a new driver. That should make it all easy to compare and everything will be based on the first run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACcHbZ9B ... e=youtu.be

Not sure about the second issue. It sounds like the Traqdash thought you were at the same location and based it off another earlier run. You could try deleting that older track and see if that helps, if that doesn't then you may have discovered a bug. Please report back if so, we do not have many people using the system for auto-x currently and it is always helpful to have an extra set of eyes on the ground.

Thanks
Team Traqmate