Abstract:

Outdoor projects in the Master study program of computer sciences or similar study programs are always an enjoyable alternation. Most of them can be done in the field of outdoor network planning or network construction but it is not easy to find a related application, which combines complete different sciences together.

The aim of this work is to show a good example how to integrate topics of the field of computer sciences and topics of the field of sport sciences together. It deals about GPS tracking of a group of sport athletes, which competes each other. The requirements are to track their movements along a course live on web and to analyze some important athletic related statistics parameter for a better understanding of the overall and individual performance.

The competition which was the reason for this project was motivated by an Austrian FM broadcast station. They wanted to moderate live a comparison between ten amateur bicycle racers and one professional mountain runner. Both groups had to complete a course with the same level in height, but different in distance and slope. For the live overview, a GPS tracking was necessary and this was the motivation for the students of computer science, to design a proper tracking and visualizing system.

The students had to equip each athlete with a small water proofed cell phone running a high configurable tracking application on it. The server in the background received all tracking messages and stored them in a relational data base. The student also had to prepare the online calculations about passed distance, height level, work and dissipated power.

Beside the technical challenge the main focus is to operate the whole system as a live and productive system. It must be useable for the broadcasting station during their moderation. So, no crashes or mistakes can be tolerated. Here, the quality of the students work must be on a high level of perfectness.

Keywords:

GPS tracking, sport science, outdoor activity.