Swimming is one of my favorite sports, especially in open waters. But, to be able to swim in the sea, one must train in the swimming pool. The relationship between time and distance is the key to measure how bad/good we are doing, and it's something import to note whenever we follow a training plan. Therefore, time tracking will allow us to notice any improvement or regression. Having that said, this project is about automating time tracking over training sessions. Being able to send all lap times to the cloud should allow anyone to easily calculate training progressions.

In this first part of the project:

  • I managed to get my NFC reader board identifying NFC tags;
  • I adapted the key ring NFC tag into a finger ring NFC tag;
  • I learnt how to draw information over the LED board;
  • I got the RTC helping me out on counting time since it was difficult to me to keep the Arduino sharp on time while executing several instructions (as refining the information to be shown on the display, checking if there's any tag inside the antenna's reading field, etc);

My next goal is to install any wireless communication system on board. I first think of using Infrared sensors to transmit data to other nodes, mainly because its cheaper. The result can be seen in the video below. The circuit, component list and source code will be shortly available as soon as I get time to format these files. 

Updated on March 20, 2014

I am, now, decided to use a bluetooth module to collect data from these counters. Infra red communication systems are cheaper indeed, but not that much. Moreover, having a bluetooth module allows me to send data directly to my mobile phone, which is a big deal because I don't need another Arduino for interfacing the IR sensors.

Material list:

Circuit Diagram (made with Circuit Diagram and GIMP):

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Necessary libraries:

Source code: SwimmingCounter.ino