From Paper to Asphalt: The actual set up

[red84vette]

[JohnB]

Lots of work goes into designing and setting up a course.  Everybody really appreciates that.  I always wondered if using a GPS to place the cones would help if your map could show coordinates of the cones.

[red84vette]

I betcha a GPS would be great on a larger course, but I find that after we plot a course out at the Alamodomering, we are usually shifting due to imperfections on the surface or for a safety concern.

However, if we put a course together that everyone really liked, and we wanted to "save it" --  we could gather GPS data on cone placement for future purposes.

I'm thinking that for 2004, and we should have one course, not a gimmick course, but more educational, which has a straights, slaloms, lane changes and corners, and we should repeat every quarter, as a tool to see how well we've progressed as drivers.  GPS plots would be awesome in that regard.

Something to discuss later this year as we prepare for 2004?

[JohnB]

I'm imagining GPS gizmos as common as wrist watches, hand out a list of coordinates and cones to the course setup helpers who then place their cones at the designated coordinates resulting in a 10 minute setup.  Of course that would never happen.  What I really am thinking of are smart cones that know where they are supposed to go and get there on their own.

--John