Whilst completing my final year of university, I worked as a free-lance developer of race software for the National Hovercrafting Club of Great Britain - a group of enthusiastic hovercraft racers who organise an annual racing championship for varios classes of hovercraft. The software is used to track pilots, teams, race results and calculate point tallies for both each event and an entire season. Additionally, it is used for pilots licencing, membership and other administration. The software was designed to be simple to use but also capable of performing all the required functions.
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Summary
The software was created with PyQT and Python which is then compiled into an executable. The key software features are summarised below.
Pilot managementThe software is used to manage pilot records, track their race results, licencing and club membership. This ensures that pilots are able to progress through the different craft formulas and are awarded the appropriate licences to race based on their race experience.
The pilot data is then used to assign pilots to a team (see below). |
Team managementMultiple pilots are able to join to form a team to race in each season. The database calculates and stores a teams record, the pilots on the team and their racing number. At the end of the season it is the team that recieves the reward for the results.
Like the pilots tab, teams can be searched using the search bar and a separate racing numbers view shows which racing numbers that are currently being used. |
Race executionThe racing tab records the races in each season and the results. The tree menu on the left sorts the races by year, event and then race. The user is able to assign different teams and pilots to a race and record who was present at each race safety briefing. It is also capable of producing grids using the results of previous races. The grids, race results and other information can be printed directly through the application. After race setup, they can be executed (see below).
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Race ExecutionThis window is used by the software operator to input the racing numbers of each hovercraft as they pass the start/finish line. This records the positions of each craft on each lap and this is used to determine the race result as well as record each pilots race experience. The software is capable of re-ordering, removing and adding results after the race is complete to correct any user error that may occur.
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Drone Video
Whilst at a hovercraft race event, I recorded some foottage and made a video using my drone.