Rally Note Project Information

by Steve Email

So the Rally Note project has been moving along smoothly. It has been working out very well and while I wish I could take the full credit, I was able to save a ton of time due to an article in a GIS magazine, ArcUser. "Building and Calculating Turn Radii" by Mark Price was in the Winter issue of ArcUser and saved me a ton of time in deciding how to best tackle the way to determine a turn. So the GIS data has been built, tested and Im getting results that are much better than I expected. The notes that are being output are not wildly off at all.

The biggest problem I have right now is elevation data. Currently I am using USGS topo from their website and the accuracy on it is fair at best. Unfortunately to get accurate jumps and crests I am going to need something of a much higher level: LIDAR. And...I dont have the dollars for that! Regardless, I am happy with the progress I have made and hopefully in the future I can save up a few dollars and get some LIDAR data in to help refine the end result.

Right now I've been working on the poster of this project for the ESRI User Conference and it is coming along well! Look for an upcoming post, Ill talk about it a bit and show a preview.

Categories: Uncategorized
Permalink06/30/10 03:00:38 pm,

3 comments

Comment from: Drew McPhee [Visitor] Email
Drew McPheeHi Steve,

Very very interesting project you are undertaking. I think a lot of competitors would be able to use this technology to great advantage. Maybe too much on tulip rallies were the road book is released the night before the rally!

I used to make 3d models for a driving simulator in my spare time, I tried to recreate certain stages that I wanted to practice using Google Earth data combined with various topo data sources. Some are certainly better than others but yes all are very limited.

In the end it went ok and allowed me to get a feel for the modelled stage before I even turned a wheel. I then wondered if driving a 3d version of the stage in a sim could also be used to make initial pace notes, eliminating at lease 1 reccee run. Your data, if you do get it accurate, would be perfect to work with as a basis of a 3d model, food for thought.

Anyway best of luck with your project, I will be watching your progress.
07/15/10 @ 05:32
Comment from: Drew McPhee [Visitor] Email
Drew McPheehttp://www.bobstrackbuilder.net/laser_scanning_op.aspx This is the 3d software I use...these guys used point cloud data and LIDAR to build a recreation of a track here in Australia that was recently closed down...
07/16/10 @ 00:26
Comment from: Steve [Member] Email
Hi Drew,

Thanks for the comments! It does give me more to think about for the future. I love to see what is being done by others, thanks for sharing that 3D site it is really cool!

Steve
07/16/10 @ 10:50

This post has 1 feedback awaiting moderation...