Yearly the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) recall its reserve force for what is known as the Individual Physical Proficiency Test or more famously known as IPPT. IPPT consists of five testing stations : (1) 50 metres sprint, (2) Standing Broad Jump, (3) Chin-up, (4) Sit-n-Reach, (5) 2.4 KM run. The last couple of years, we have seen initiatives to automate the testing procedures for each station using a combination of light sensors and RFID technology.

Particularly for the last station - a 2.4km run, each runner carries a RFID chip on their body. The RFID system will record the start time, number of laps, lap time, and end time for each individual run. The nice thing I like about it is when I complete a lap, it shows my own lap time/count on a huge display board nearby. It saves me the pain of looking at my watch everytime, counting my lap time mentally while busting my lungs for oxygen. At least for me, it is a huge improvement from the old manual system we used to have. I can stay focus on the run and keep the momentum going.

Similarly, same application is used for rollerblading. We’ll set up RFID gates at the start / end lines. Every racer carries a RFID chip, and when he zooms past the gates, the RFID system tracks his current lap count and lap time. On his last lap, when he races past the gates, the system captures his end time. Nice, and fuss free … pretty much everything is automated here.

In fact I just remembered I knew someone who worked for HS Sports in the UK, and they tagged race cars to automate lap counts, and time. I have not seen it for myself, but he did mention that they stick RFID tags at the base of a car, take an average of the several timing samplings for each lap as the car races past the line.

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