Is the subscription mandatory for the units to work?
Sponsored Content Presented by Flagger.
“She told me, ‘I’m 100% certain I’d have hit that car if I didn’t have the Flagger system in my car.’ That right there kind of told me that what we were doing was a good idea.” That’s Matt Eastling, CEO and co-founder of the Flagger In-Car Alert System, relating the story of someone’s experience with his system.
At its simplest, Flagger is an electronic flagging system. Drivers install a small LCD screen tied to an integral communication module, battery pack and onboard accelerometer—the whole thing is about the size of a pager but a little thicker. That module relays the flags from the corner stations to the cockpit.
Eastling is serious about safety: “I showed up to one of my first HPDE days in basically full gear. It felt a little weird looking around and seeing everyone else in street clothes, but I don’t think anyone should ever have to feel weird for being overly cautious.”
Hence Flagger. Eastling is quick to talk about the safety aspects of the system, although it’s really much more than an in-car flag indicator. But we’ll talk about that more in a minute.
“There’s going to be times when you might not be able to get your eyes to a flag station as quick as you’d like,” Eastling says. “I race a Spec E46, and those cars are tall, and big, and we’re always right on top of each other. Sometimes the first glimpse you get of a flag could be through someone else’s windshield.
“I had an idea for a system that would give drivers instant info, in the car, about what flags were present in what locations. That was a few years ago, and the system you see now came from those ideas.”
Eastling continues about the Flagger system: “And not just for drivers. Those workers out there at every corner are facing some of the most danger of anyone on a hot track. If we can come up with a system to keep them safer and let them do their jobs with more confidence, which in turn keeps the drivers even safer, it’s win-win.”
American Endurance Racing has already adopted Flagger.
The system is highly tunable by race control stewards to provide drivers with as much or as little supplemental information as stewards deem necessary. The hardware of the system consists of the in-car display units placed in each on-track vehicle; a small laptop, monitor and transmitter/receiver device at race control; and handheld units at each corner station. The entire system is linked by its own RF network and requires no outside network infrastructure to run properly.
Race stewards can define the operational area for each corner using GPS coordinates, and any in-car receiver entering that operational area will display flag data from only that area. Once the car has cleared the area defined by the stewards, the display will clear itself.
In addition to local flags sent from the handheld units at corner stations, the race control station can also broadcast full-course, local or even single-car advisories—particularly useful in situations where a driver’s transponder may not be working or a mechanical issue with a car requires a single driver to pit.
Beyond the real-time communication functionality, Flagger also logs all events triggered by either the stations or by race control. It also allows race control to insert notes or comments, whether general or regarding any specific events.
This is where Flagger moves beyond a mere real-time in-car flagging indicator and becomes a powerful race management suite. Having a single-location digital record of the control aspects of a race will be invaluable for both small clubs with limited staffs and large clubs hosting high-profile events that need a deep well of on-track accountability.
We also mentioned that the in-car units feature accelerometers, and these are present as an additional safety measure. Any deviation outside normal operation—sudden massive g-loads (as would be present in a collision), sudden changes in orientation (as would be present in a spin or, heaven forbid, a rollover), or unexpected stoppages due to mechanical failure—are instantly alerted to race control. This could notify the race director in the control tower of a red-flag-necessary condition before they even get the radio call from a corner station.
Additional functions are being added to and developed for Flagger as well. Aside from simply being able to relay on-track flag info, Flagger also has the ability to direct groups or specific cars to specific locations, like impound or the post-race scales. It’s powerful to be able to communicate directly with every driver regardless of weather, ambient noise, or line-of-sight issues.
For drivers, $250 gets you the hardware unit and communication; software and hardware support then costs $75 for the first year and $100 per year after that. The annual fee covers all future updates and firmware functionality upgrades, along with a no-questions-asked hardware support program.
Now it comes down to adoption: Unless clubs and drivers fully adopt the system and equip every car and corner station, it’s not going to work to its potential.
But the system is so clever, so intuitive to use and so effective that we foresee a lot of clubs jumping on board. As we mentioned, AER is already fully integrating the system into its races for 2021, and Eastling is doing demos in the near future with Lemons, #Gridlife, several SCCA and NASA regions, and a few marque clubs and tracks that run their own track days.
We think it won't be long until most cars on track will have one of these tiny digital corner workers riding shotgun, keeping their drivers better informed than ever before.
Is the subscription mandatory for the units to work?
Yes, I'm pretty sure it is.
The idea is really good, but that subscription ask is a bit out there.
On one hand, I work at a company that offers software, so I get that it requires ongoing support.
On the other hand, he's gotta look at what he's asking for: he wants to increase the annual racing costs of EVERYONE who races by $100 every year. That's a BIG ask.
I'm trying to think of what similar automotive products require a subscription service. My transponder doesn't. I don't think most stand alone engine managements do (maybe the high end ones like MOTEC?). Radios? Even a lot of the entry level suspension and engine design software is a one time purchase price.
Finally, what value am I really getting from that subscription? I could see the subscription for the trackside equipment, since that looks like a more extensive setup with an acutal software interface. But for me the racer it looks like I'm getting a box that gets information relayed to it that it then displays. That's doesn't really scream 'equipment that you need to be paying a maintenance subscription for'.
Cool. I didn't know there was another company doing this.
Champcar is going to use flagtronics which is similar, and MAY not have subscription costs.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand the current flag system is seriously outdated and has some serious weaknesses. On the other I hate the subscription model, I'm not crazy about requiring another expense for racers and my (admittedly limited) experience so far with in car notification systems has shown that racers will miss those as well.
With today's technology, if one were to start from scratch to design a race car driver notification system the suggestion to scatter workers around the track and give them flags would likely be laughed at. Flag stations can be hard to see in the heat of battle and no matter how observant you are sight lines always limit their visibility. Usually in the areas where the flags are most needed. I love the idea of eliminating the gray area between flag stands. The whole don't start racing again until you reach the next station that's not displaying the yellow is extremely subjective and since I tend to interpret that on the cautious side I often loose ground in those situations.
I hate the subscription model. I know that it's becoming the norm for anything with software but I still don't like it.
Some drivers are going to miss notifications no matter how they're presented. I once watched a dirt track guy run multiple laps with the 2" diameter, bright red, low oil pressure light illuminated on his dash and claim he never saw it. I could see it from the stands!
Finding a place to mount that in my Formula Ford would be a challenge. I'd have to choose between that and the DAC system.
If one of the racing series that I run with once a year adopts this system I might choose to just not run with them. Between the cost of the system, subscription cost and the need to figure out where and how to mount it I might just find another way to spend my time and money.
Thinking about this, I'd be more enthusiastic if this system were integrated with timing and scoring.
I suspect that this system, or something like it will eventually come to one or more of the sanctioning bodies that I race with and that it will be an improvement over the outdated flag system. When that happens I'll pry open my wallet and rearrange the dash in my race car but I'm going to complain about it.
As a marshal, I love seeing more and more technology like this entering into the racing scene. I also wish there were more fixed LED "Flag" panels at the race tracks in a consistent location for better visibility.
Anything that helps us be safer on track especially with the club racing where we have to do more than the pro events is a god send and very much welcomed.
I don't agree with the subscription fee either. I could see a $20 annual just to keep money inflow and drive future development for the receiver. $100 is a little much for something that would only need maybe an over the air update once a quarter or so.
So because 5-10% of drivers have red mist and or blinders on and miss flags the rest of us have to spend $250 plus $100 a year? If you can't drive and use your brain, should you really be on track?
I'm of two mind on this; if I the ADD poster kid can drive and process information then surely everyone else can but I also know that people are wired differently so not all drivers can drive and process information.
Where exactly do I mount this in my formula car? The system seems geared towards sedans.
As for the cost; even for someone like me who does 2 races a year, the subscription works out to $50 a race. That's not going to make or break my budget given I'm spending $750-$1000 a weekend.
This is a clever tool and I can see how it would help some drivers. While I use the corner workers as a tool, I'm cognizant that not everyone can do this and so this system would help them.
I believe the $100 subscription pushes the limits of what people are willing to put up with.
This is $25 more a year than a mylaps subscription.
Within the costs of tracking a car, this is going to be a low level line item in the budget.. but it's still an item.
Since iRacing essentially has this built in and I find a lot of value in it from that, I am in support of the product. But the long term subscription model is very annoying to me, and I will push back against this COMPANY and their business model until they make changes to their subscription model.
Note I'm not trying to be a wet blanket/dik on this but since I make people justify the use of products and services for a living:
Please show me documented proof that this product increases safety over the existing system. While I may think it's clever and on the surface would appear to be a step up from our current system, I still want to see evidence that it increases safety and or reduces accidents.
When I say documented I don't mean testimonials of "this totally saved me from crashing" I mean actual year on year data.
As an example; there are roughly 8000 SCCA club racers, so if I mandate this you are going to see 2 million in sales plus $800,000 annual in recurring revenue. Over a 5 year period you are going to see 6 million dollars in revenue.
If I'm signing off on 6 million I want hard data / proof and it will need to be a significant.
The subscription model is going to stop a lot of people from buying into this. However, if a club were to rent or loan them out like they do transponders, it'll go a long way towards faster adoption. Surely a club could get a bulk rate on the subscription and pass the savings along to the drivers.
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