Competition timing system

Abstract

This competition timing system comprises: a start unit 10 that transmits a start signal to a wireless communication network NW covering an area including a start point and a goal point when an athlete P passing through the start point has been detected; a goal unit 20 that transmits a goal signal to the wireless communication network NW when the athlete P passing through the goal point has been detected using a sensor unit 28 (optical sensor); and a display unit 30 that measures the time of the athlete P on the basis of reception of the start signal and the goal signal via the wireless communication network NW, and causes a predetermined information output device to output information pertaining to the measured time. The sensor unit 28 (optical sensor) has a light projection part 281 and a light reception part 282 that receives light projected from the light projection part 281, and has a plurality of at least one of the light projection part 281 and the light reception part 282. With this type of competition timing system, athlete time measurements are less likely to be affected even during snowfall.

Description

Competition measurement system

[0001] The present invention relates to a competition measurement system for measuring the times of athletes in competitions such as skiing and snowboarding.

[0002] Conventional timing systems for sports such as skiing and snowboarding start time measurement when a start sensor detects that an athlete has passed through a starting gate installed at the starting point, and end time measurement when a finish sensor detects that the athlete has reached the finish line. The required time is calculated and displayed on a time display unit at a time display point. Typically, in such timing systems, the start point (start sensor), the finish point (finish sensor), and the time display unit are connected by wire. Such wired systems require a great deal of time and effort to set up, and the equipment is expensive. Therefore, such timing systems are rarely used except at competitive events.

[0003] On the other hand, in practice, the above-mentioned competition timing systems are rarely used because they are expensive. Generally, the person at the starting point carries a transceiver, and the person at the finish line carries a transceiver and a stopwatch. At the start, the person at the starting point uses the transceiver to inform the person at the finish line that they have started, and the person at the finish line operates the stopwatch to start measuring the time. At the finish line, the person at the finish line operates the stopwatch to end the time measurement, thereby measuring the time from the start to the finish line. Therefore, the work involved in measuring operations is cumbersome, and it is difficult to measure accurate times.

[0004] Therefore, the present applicant has proposed an inexpensive competition timing system that is easy to install, has a high degree of flexibility, and can measure time accurately, and can be used for both small-group practice sessions and competitions (Patent Documents 1 and 2). The competition timing system in Patent Document 1 transmits a start signal consisting of an audio signal from a first radio when a start sensor detects that an athlete has started, transmits a finish signal consisting of an audio signal from a second radio when a goal sensor detects that the athlete has finished, starts measuring time when a third radio receives the start signal from the first radio, and ends measuring time when a goal signal is received from the second radio, and displays the time from the start to the end of measuring time on a time display unit. The goal sensor is configured to transmit, for example, infrared light to a mirror and receive reflected light from the mirror, and detects the interruption of the reflected light when an athlete passes through and finishes the race, and outputs a passage detection signal to the goal unit.

[0005] In the competition timing system of Patent Document 2, the start unit transmits a start signal to a wireless communication network when it detects that an athlete has passed the start point, the goal unit transmits a finish signal to the wireless communication network when it detects that the athlete has passed the finish point, and the control unit receives the start signal and the finish signal via the wireless communication network, measures the athlete's time based on these signals, and outputs information related to the measured time to a predetermined information output device. The goal unit includes a sensor that detects that the athlete has passed the finish point, and is configured to output a predetermined detection signal to the control unit when the sensor detects that the athlete has passed the finish point.

[0006] Japanese Patent No. 6094955 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-150315

[0007] As disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, competition measurement systems used in skiing, snowboarding, and other sports use optical sensors to detect when athletes pass through the finish line. However, skiing, snowboarding, and other sports are often held during snowfall, and depending on the quality of the snow and the size of the snow clumps, falling snow can block the sensor's light beam, resulting in false detections and detection errors.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and aims to provide a competition measurement system that is less likely to interfere with the time measurement of athletes even during snowfall.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a competition measurement system comprising: a start unit that, when it detects that an athlete has passed a starting point, transmits a start signal to a wireless communication network that covers an area including the starting point and a finishing point; a finish unit that, when it detects that the athlete has passed the finishing point using an optical sensor, transmits a finish signal to the wireless communication network; and a control unit that measures the athlete's time based on receiving the start signal and the finish signal via the wireless communication network and outputs information related to the measured time to a specified information output device, wherein the optical sensor has a light-projecting unit and a light-receiving unit that receives light projected from the light-projecting unit, and the system has a plurality of at least either the light-projecting units or the light-receiving units (Invention 1).

[0010] According to this invention (Invention 1), by providing multiple light-projecting units and / or multiple light-receiving units in the goal unit, multiple detection lines can be formed to detect the athlete's finish line, consisting of light rays connecting the light-projecting units and light-receiving units.Only when all of the multiple detection lines are blocked will the goal unit detect that the athlete has passed the finish line and send a finish signal, so that even during snowfall, false detections and detection errors will not occur, and the athlete's time can be measured.

[0011] In the above invention (Invention 1), it is preferable that the goal unit comprises one light-projecting unit incorporating the light-projecting section, and one light-receiving unit incorporating the light-receiving section and independent of the light-projecting unit (Invention 2).

[0012] In the above invention (Invention 2), when there are multiple light-emitting sections, it is preferable that the multiple light-emitting sections are arranged vertically in the light-emitting unit, and when there are multiple light-receiving sections, the multiple light-receiving sections are arranged vertically in the light-receiving unit (Invention 3).

[0013] In the above inventions (Inventions 2 and 3), it is preferable that the light-emitting unit is installed at one end of a goal line set at the finish point, and the light-receiving unit is installed at the other end of the goal line (Invention 4).

[0014] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a competition measurement system that is less likely to interfere with measuring the times of athletes even during snowfall.

[0015] It is a figure which shows roughly the basic structure of the competition measurement system based on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the start unit. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the goal unit. It is a figure which shows roughly the structure of the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit included in the goal unit. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the display unit.

[0016] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the shapes and dimensions shown in the drawings are merely shown to facilitate understanding of the contents of the present invention, and do not accurately reflect the actual shapes and dimensions.

[0017] (1) Basic Configuration of a Competition Measurement System FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the basic configuration of a competition measurement system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The competition measurement system according to this embodiment is a system for measuring the time of an athlete P in a competition such as skiing or snowboarding, and is composed of a start unit 10 disposed near the starting point of the competition, a goal unit 20 disposed near the finishing point of the competition, a display unit 30 that displays the time of the athlete P, a terminal device 40, and a content providing server 50. The goal unit 20 is composed of one light-projecting unit 20T and one light-receiving unit 20R, with the light-projecting unit 20T installed at one end of a finish line set at the finish point, and the light-receiving unit 20R installed at the other end of the finish line. In this embodiment, the start unit 10, the goal unit 20, the display unit 30, the terminal device 40, and the content providing server 50 are each configured to be communicably connected to a wireless communication network NW that covers an area including the starting point and the finishing point.

[0018] In this embodiment, the wireless communication network NW may be any wireless communication network that covers an area including the start point and the finish point, and may be, for example, a mobile phone network such as PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), GSM (Registered Trademark) (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), or LTE (Long Term Evolution).

[0019] The start unit 10 is configured to transmit a start signal to the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW when it detects that the athlete P has passed the start point. The goal unit 20 is configured to transmit a finish signal to the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW when it detects that the athlete P has passed the finish point.

[0020] The display unit 30 is configured to receive the start signal and the finish signal via the wireless communication network NW, measure the time of the athlete P based on the start signal and the finish signal, and output information about the measured time to the display section 36 (shown in FIG. 6). The display unit 30 is an example of the "control unit" in the present invention.

[0021] In this embodiment, the display unit 30 is configured to transmit information relating to the measured time to the terminal device 40 and / or the content providing server 50 via the wireless communication network NW.

[0022] The terminal device 40 is equipped with a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitor, and is configured to receive information related to the measured time from the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW and display the received information on the display device. The terminal device 40 may be a dedicated computer or a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer. The terminal device 40 may also be a terminal device operated by an individual user, such as a mobile terminal, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a television receiver with two-way communication capabilities (including so-called multi-function smart televisions).

[0023] The content providing server 50 is, for example, a web server configured to be able to communicate with a client terminal device (such as the terminal device 40) via a wireless communication network NW, and upon receiving information about the measured time from the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW, generates HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data for displaying a web page including the received information and stores the HTML data in a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The content providing server 50 is also configured to transmit the HTML data to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device.

[0024] (2) Configuration of the Start Unit The start unit 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the start unit 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the start unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a storage device 14, a display processing unit 15, a display unit 16, an input unit 17, a sensor unit 18, and a communication interface unit 19, and is provided with a bus 10a for transmitting control signals or data signals between the respective units.

[0025] When power is applied to the start unit 10, the CPU 11 loads various programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage device 14 into the RAM 13 and executes them. Furthermore, when the CPU 11 receives a predetermined detection signal (described later) from the sensor unit 18, it transmits a start signal indicating that the athlete P has passed the starting point to the display unit 30 via the communication interface unit 19 and the wireless communication network NW.

[0026] The storage device 14 may be a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, an SSD (Solid State Drive), a magnetic storage device (e.g., an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a floppy disk (registered trademark), a magnetic tape, etc.), an optical disk, or a volatile storage device such as a RAM, and stores programs executed by the CPU 11 and data referenced by the CPU 11.

[0027] The display processing unit 15 displays the display data provided by the CPU 11 on the display unit 16. The display unit 16 is, for example, an LCD monitor including thin film transistors arranged in a matrix on a pixel basis, and displays the data to be displayed on the display screen by driving the thin film transistors based on the display data.

[0028] If the start unit 10 is a button input type device, the input section 17 has at least one instruction input button for accepting user operation input, and includes an interface circuit for recognizing the pressing (operation) input of the instruction input button and outputting it to the CPU 11.

[0029] If the start unit 10 is a device that uses a touch panel input method, the input unit 17 mainly accepts touch panel input by touching the display screen with a fingertip or a pen. The touch panel input method may be a known method such as a capacitance method.

[0030] The sensor unit 18 includes a sensor that detects the movement of the start bar, which is pushed by, for example, the legs of the athlete P as the athlete P passes the starting point, and this sensor is configured to output a predetermined detection signal to the CPU 11 when it detects that the start bar has been pushed.

[0031] The communication interface section 19 includes an interface circuit for communicating with the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW.

[0032] (3) Configuration of Goal Unit The goal unit 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the goal unit 20. As shown in Fig. 3, the goal unit 20 includes a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a storage device 24, a display processing unit 25, a display unit 26, an input unit 27, a sensor unit 28, and a communication interface unit 29, and is provided with a bus 20a for transmitting control signals or data signals between the respective units.

[0033] When power is applied to the goal unit 20, the CPU 21 loads various programs stored in the ROM 22 or the storage device 24 into the RAM 23 and executes them. Furthermore, when the CPU 21 receives a predetermined detection signal (described later) from the sensor unit 28, it transmits a goal signal indicating that the athlete P has passed the goal point to the display unit 30 via the communication interface unit 29 and the wireless communication network NW.

[0034] The sensor unit 28 is an optical sensor that detects when the athlete P passes through the finish line, and this sensor unit 28 (optical sensor) is configured to output a predetermined detection signal to the CPU 21 when it detects that the athlete P has passed through the finish line. The sensor unit 28 has a light-projecting unit 281 and a light-receiving unit 282 that receives light projected from the light-projecting unit 281, the light-projecting unit 281 being incorporated in the light-projecting unit 20T, and the light-receiving unit 282 being incorporated in the light-receiving unit 20R.

[0035] The sensor section 28 has a plurality of at least either light-projecting sections 281 or light-receiving sections 282. The sensor section 28 may have the same number of light-receiving sections 282 as the light-projecting sections 281, or may have a different number of light-receiving sections 282 than the light-projecting sections 281. In this embodiment, the sensor section 28 has two light-projecting sections 281 and two light-receiving sections 282, and two light-projecting sections 281a and 281b are incorporated in the light-projecting unit 20T, and two light-receiving sections 282a and 282b are incorporated in the light-receiving unit 20R.

[0036] 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the light-projecting unit 20T and the light-receiving unit 20R included in the goal unit 20. A goal line is set at the finish point where the athlete P passes, and the light-projecting unit 20T is installed on one end of the goal line, and the light-receiving unit 20R is installed on the other end of the goal line. The light-projecting unit 20T has two light-projecting units 281a and 281b arranged vertically, and the light-receiving unit 20R has two light-receiving units 282a and 282b arranged vertically. With the light-projecting unit 20T and the light-receiving unit 20R configured as described above, light emitted from the light-projecting unit 281a is received by the light-receiving units 282a and 282b, respectively, and light emitted from the light-projecting unit 281b is also received by the light-receiving units 282a and 282b, respectively, so that four light beams (detection lines) can be formed along the goal line to detect when the athlete P passes the goal line and reaches the finish line.

[0037] The sensor unit 28 of the goal unit 20 is configured to output a predetermined detection signal (passing detection signal) to the CPU 21 only when multiple (four in this embodiment) detection lines formed along the goal line between the light-projecting unit 20T and the light-receiving unit 20R are simultaneously blocked. If there was only one detection line, falling snow could block the light beam of that detection line during snowfall, depending on the snow quality and size of the snow clumps. However, if multiple detection lines are formed, the possibility of all of the detection lines being blocked by falling snow is extremely low. When the athlete P passes the goal line, all of the multiple detection lines formed along the goal line are simultaneously blocked. Therefore, the sensor unit 28 outputs a passing detection signal to the CPU 21 only when all of the multiple detection lines are simultaneously blocked. When the CPU 21 receives the passing detection signal from the sensor unit 28, it transmits a finish signal to the display unit 30 indicating that the athlete P has passed the finish point. By configuring the goal unit 20 in this way, false detection or detection errors due to snowfall do not occur, and it becomes possible to measure the time of the athlete P, so that the competition measurement system can be made such that the measurement of the athlete's time is less likely to be hindered even during snowfall.

[0038] The sensor unit 28 may have a plurality of at least either the light-projecting units 281 or the light-receiving units 282, but it is more preferable that the sensor unit 28 have a plurality of each of the light-projecting units 281 and the light-receiving units 282 in order to prevent false detection or detection errors due to snowfall near both ends of the finish line. For example, if the sensor unit 28 has one light-projecting unit 281 and two light-receiving units 282, two detection lines will be formed to detect when the athlete P crosses the finish line, whereas if the sensor unit 28 has three light-projecting units 281 and one light-receiving unit 282, three detection lines will be formed. If the sensor unit 28 has two light-projecting units 281 and three light-receiving units 282, six detection lines will be formed, and if the sensor unit 28 has four light-projecting units 281 and two light-receiving units 282, eight detection lines will be formed.

[0039] When the sensor unit 28 has a plurality of light-projecting units 281, it is preferable that the plurality of light-projecting units 281 are arranged vertically in the light-projecting unit 20T, and when the sensor unit 28 has a plurality of light-receiving units 282, it is preferable that the plurality of light-receiving units 282 are arranged vertically in the light-receiving unit 20R. By arranging a plurality of light-projecting units 281 and light-receiving units 282 vertically in this manner, it is possible to form a plurality of aligned detection lines on the finish line, thereby accurately detecting when the athlete P crosses the finish line. Note that the vertical direction means a direction that is approximately perpendicular to the ground (snow surface) (approximately vertical direction) when the light-projecting unit 20T and the light-receiving unit 20R are installed near both ends of the finish line, and does not necessarily have to be a direction that is strictly perpendicular to the ground (snow surface) (vertical direction).

[0040] Furthermore, when the sensor unit 28 has multiple light-projecting units 281, the multiple light-projecting units 281 are preferably spaced at intervals of 1 cm or more in the light-projecting unit 20T, and more preferably spaced at intervals of 3 cm or more. When the sensor unit 28 has multiple light-receiving units 282, the multiple light-receiving units 282 are preferably spaced at intervals of 1 cm or more in the light-receiving unit 20R, and more preferably spaced at intervals of 3 cm or more. By spaced at least a certain distance between the multiple light-projecting units 281 and the light-receiving units 282, it is possible to prevent multiple detection lines formed on the finish line from being simultaneously blocked by falling snowflakes. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of avoiding an increase in the size of the device (unit), it is preferable to keep the spacing between the multiple light-projecting units 281 and the light-receiving units 282 within 15 cm, and more preferably within 10 cm.

[0041] The details of each of the other parts of the goal unit 20 are the same as those of the start unit 10. The components other than the sensor unit 28 may be incorporated into, for example, the light-receiving unit 20R. The goal unit 20 may be configured to include a main unit in which the components other than the sensor unit 28 are incorporated, in addition to the light-projecting unit 20T in which the light-projecting unit 281 is incorporated and the light-receiving unit 20R in which the light-receiving unit 282 is incorporated.

[0042] (4) Configuration of the Display Unit The display unit 30 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the display unit 30. As shown in Fig. 5, the display unit 30 includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a storage device 34, a display processing unit 35, a display unit 36, an input unit 37, and a communication interface unit 38, and is provided with a bus 30a for transmitting control signals or data signals between the respective units.

[0043] When power is applied to the display unit 30, the CPU 31 loads various programs stored in the ROM 32 or the storage device 34 into the RAM 33 and executes them. The CPU 31 also measures the time of the athlete P based on the start signal and finish signal received via the communication interface unit 38, and displays information related to the measured time on the display unit 36.

[0044] The details of the other parts of the display unit 30 are the same as those of the start unit 10.

[0045] (5) Overview of Functions in the Competition Measurement System The functions realized by the competition measurement system of this embodiment will be described.

[0046] The start unit 10 has a function of transmitting a start signal to a wireless communication network NW that covers an area including the start and finish points when it detects that the athlete P has passed the start point.

[0047] The function of the start unit 10 is realized, for example, as follows. It is assumed here that communication is established between the start unit 10 and the display unit 30 via a wireless communication network NW. When the CPU 11 of the start unit 10 receives a predetermined detection signal from the sensor unit 18 and detects that the athlete P has passed the starting point, it generates a start signal and transmits the generated start signal to the wireless communication network NW and the display unit 30 via the communication interface unit 19.

[0048] The goal unit 20 has a function of transmitting a goal signal to the wireless communication network NW when it detects that the athlete P has passed the goal point.

[0049] The function of the goal unit 20 is realized, for example, as follows. It is assumed here that communication is established between the goal unit 20 and the display unit 30 via the wireless communication network NW. When the CPU 21 of the goal unit 20 receives a predetermined detection signal (passage detection signal) from the sensor unit 28 and detects that the athlete P has passed the finish line, the CPU 21 generates a goal signal and transmits the generated goal signal to the wireless communication network NW and the display unit 30 via the communication interface unit 29.

[0050] The display unit 30 has the function of measuring the time of the athlete P based on receiving a start signal and a finish signal via the wireless communication network NW, and outputting information about the measured time to the display unit 36 ​​(a specified information output device).

[0051] Furthermore, the display unit 30 may measure the time of the athlete P if it receives a finish signal within a predetermined period during which the athlete P is expected to pass the finish line. As a result, if the display unit 30 does not receive a finish signal within a predetermined period during which the athlete P is expected to pass the finish line, for example, it can determine that it is not possible to properly measure the time because the athlete P has retired from the race, and can measure the time of the next athlete P without measuring the time of the athlete P, thereby enabling efficient measurement of the times of multiple athlete P.

[0052] The function of the display unit 30 is realized, for example, as follows. It is assumed here that communication via a wireless communication network NW is established between the display unit 30 and each of the start unit 10 and the goal unit 20. The CPU 31 of the display unit 30 receives a start signal from the start unit 10 via the wireless communication network NW and then receives a finish signal from the goal unit 20 via the wireless communication network NW. When the CPU 31 receives a start signal from the start unit 10 via the wireless communication network NW and then receives a finish signal from the goal unit 20 via the wireless communication network NW, the CPU 31 determines whether the finish signal is received within a predetermined period during which the athlete P is expected to pass the finish line (e.g., a period from T1 (T1 > 0) seconds to T2 (T2 > T1) seconds after the start signal is received). The start timing T1 and end timing T2 of the predetermined period may be automatically set, for example, so that the start timing T1 is a predetermined time (e.g., 40 seconds) after the start signal is received, and the end timing T2 is a predetermined time (e.g., 20 seconds) after the start timing T1, or may be arbitrarily set using the input unit 37. The set start timing T1 and end timing T2 may be stored, for example, in the RAM 33 or the storage device 34.

[0053] If the CPU 31 receives a finish signal within a predetermined period of time, it measures the time of the athlete P. Note that if the CPU 31 does not receive a finish signal within the predetermined period of time, it may end the process. Here, some examples of time measurement methods will be given.

[0054] As a first measurement method, if the start signal and the finish signal do not contain time information when the detection signal is received from the sensor unit 18 or the sensor unit 28, the CPU 31 may measure the time of the athlete P by using a built-in timer (not shown) to measure the time from when the start signal is received via the communication interface unit 38 to when the finish signal is received via the communication interface unit 38. In this case, timing can be performed using only the timer built into the display unit 30, and therefore, there is no need to synchronize the time between the timer built into the start unit 10 and / or the finish unit 20 and the timer built into the display unit 30. This makes it easier to measure the time of the athlete P and also reduces the manufacturing costs of the system.

[0055] As a second measurement method, if the start signal and the finish signal each contain time information when a detection signal is received from the sensor unit 18 or the sensor unit 28, the CPU 31 may measure the time of the athlete P by measuring the time difference between the time information contained in the start signal received via the communication interface unit 38 and the time information contained in the finish signal received via the communication interface unit 38.

[0056] Furthermore, as a third measurement method, if the time information at the time when the detection signal is received from the sensor unit 18 or the sensor unit 28 is contained in only one of the start signal and the finish signal, the CPU 31 may measure the time of the athlete P by measuring the time difference between the time information contained in either the start signal or the finish signal and the timing at which the other of the start signal and the finish signal is received via the communication interface unit 38.

[0057] Then, the CPU 31 outputs (displays) the measured time on the display unit 36. Note that the CPU 31 may extract the times of the top finishers (for example, first to third place) from the competition record data and display them on the display unit 36. Furthermore, if the measured time is generated as audio data, the CPU 31 may output the measured time from an audio output device such as a speaker.

[0058] Furthermore, the CPU 31 may transmit information regarding the measured time to the terminal device 40 and / or the content providing server 50 via the communication interface unit 38 and the wireless communication network NW. In this case, when the terminal device 40 receives the information regarding the measured time from the display unit 30, it may display the received information on a display device such as an LCD monitor. Furthermore, the terminal device 40 may obtain HTML data for displaying a web page including information regarding the measured time from the content providing server 50 via the wireless communication network NW, and use a web browser provided in the terminal device 40 to display the web page corresponding to the obtained HTML data on the display device.

[0059] Although the athletics measurement system according to the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and various modifications can be made.

[0060] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Start unit 20 Goal unit 28 Sensor unit (optical sensor) 281 Light projecting unit 282 Light receiving unit 30 Display unit 36 ​​Display unit 40 Terminal device 50 Content providing server NW Wireless communication network P Competitor

Claims

1. A competition measurement system comprising: a start unit that, upon detecting that an athlete has passed a starting point, transmits a start signal to a wireless communication network that covers an area including the starting point and a finishing point; a finish unit that, upon detecting that the athlete has passed the finishing point using an optical sensor, transmits a finish signal to the wireless communication network; and a control unit that measures the athlete's time based on receiving the start signal and the finish signal via the wireless communication network and outputs information relating to the measured time to a specified information output device, wherein the optical sensor has a light-projecting unit and a light-receiving unit that receives light projected from the light-projecting unit, and the system has a plurality of at least either the light-projecting units or the light-receiving units.

2. A sports measurement system as described in claim 1, wherein the goal unit comprises one light-projecting unit incorporating the light-projecting section, and one light-receiving unit incorporating the light-receiving section and independent of the light-projecting unit.

3. A sports measurement system as described in claim 2, wherein, when there are multiple light-projecting units, the multiple light-projecting units are arranged vertically in the light-projecting unit, and when there are multiple light-receiving units, the multiple light-receiving units are arranged vertically in the light-receiving unit.

4. A competition measurement system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the light-projecting unit is installed on one end side of a finish line set at the finish point, and the light-receiving unit is installed on the other end side of the finish line.

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