This week has become extremely important for us: we are going to deliver our box number 500. The assembling is getting finish and will be ready to send to its future owner.
The evolution of our devices since the first one produced in December 2015 has been quite heavy.
Before this date, I had been timing for more than 10 years with different technologies. I still remember the first race I timed, with the only help of a laptop and a barcode reader ps2 connection,it was in 2004, in Formiche Alto, nearby Teruel.
After that, and many timing Systems used after, it was in 2012, having a conversation in the van, driving back home after a race, we decided to build up timingsense, developing our own timing system. The reasons why? Firstly, because all the devices and timings systems we knew and used everyday were full of flagrant needs. «This people is not timing on weekends», we thought, «not as we do». An average of 45 weekends per year, almost 1000 km each weekend. Secondly, the price of the tags on those days. It seemed to us to be working on the benefit of our provider. And, last reason, of course, it is because I am an engineer, and even when I love to time, I wanted to do something with the knowledges I acquired during the 5 years I spent in the University. If I would’ve known it was so hard, I would have never done this, but so it is the ignorance.
In January 2013 we set up the company as it is today, and I began to develop the timing system: studying protocols, learning about inlays, antennas, prototypes… was my day to day. «This is not working». «This is still not working». «We do not get over 90% success». «Socket has lost connection, and my proto, worked with an Impinj reader placed on a piece of wood, power supply made in China and a car battery, does not allow us to retrieve the readings until the race has finished». «Who the fuck has produced this wire?». «It is broken and the first runner is about to arrive! I’ll try to place it again and may God grant».
And it turns a day, you start to understand how the antennas work, the wires and many other things you didn’t use to understand, as f.e., why the disposable chips will never work without the small loop they have in the antenna. Those 5 years in the University helped.
Even so, the weeks went by, and I could not dedicate the time needed for the development and I had to seek help: I was aware that I was not going to be able to develop the electronic part but I wasn’t aware about developing the CPU firmware. I had already developed the Impinj reader, how could I not develop the CPU firmware?
Finally, the first TSOne. After 2 years.
Immediately, we started developing TS2. We wanted it to be more uniformed and with a big electronic card embracing everything. We wanted to change Impinj readers for Thinmagic ones, but there was no way. There were some times that the reader taken to the limit entered in a state in which he did nothing and from which he couldn’t recover not even restarting it, only reprogramming it and this took more than 2 minutes.
Imagine yourself in the finishing line of a great marathon and the reader Thinmagic reprogramming himself. I don’t think this could ever happen in a race since the tests to which we subjected them were very hard, and also would be against our way of making. So we discarded the project and started again from beginning. A solution in between what already existed and what we wanted to do. Approximately 1 year and a half delay due to that, on early 2018, and after lots of troubles and struggles, we launched the TS2.
You may think it is like any other system in the market. But at first glance, you will realize the investment made in the aluminium cover, you can not see even a single screw, it’s raining water resistant, it has ventilation grills with filters attached by magnets, it has a touch screen with a really easy menu, it does things like automatically change the timing point settings and also, at any time, anywhere in the world you can know the status of all your equipment.
You may think this kind of things are not important, however, I do believe, that is a statement of intents: That’s what timingsense is. This kind of things will allow an inexperienced timer to time, while you are away just supervising. These things give you an idea of the care we take for every single detail, and our customers above all.
This week we deliver our device number 500 and many things have changed since the first TSOne. This sector is changing faster than ever and companies creating all kinds of different products and services. Now is time to specialize. Fight against everything is not affordable.
My name is Abraham Serra, and I am CEO in timingsense. Timingsense will keep on developing the products that will revolutionize the industry forever. And even so, we focus on customer, not product. And therefore, the fact of how many equipments we sold is not important, and so it is not the number of customers we have. The only fact we care and are proud about is that none of customers has not gone with our competitors. That is the most important fact- retention. And will only be achieved by focussing on customers.
