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AIM Solo DL - what data can it provide?

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Hey to all track junkies -

I have a AIM Solo (not DL) that I've had for 5 or more years, and use their Race Studio v2 software. For video, I use an older GoPro. I'd like to get data embedded on my vids, so moving to a Solo DL seems possible, with use of a SmartyCam.

Looking at AIM's user info, it looks like a lot of data is available, such as RPM, Speed, Throttle position, steering angle, water and head temps from the ECU via the OBDII. But I don't see that brake pressure is given, only brake light illumination.

Ideally, I'd like to get RPM, speed, gear, throttle position, brake pressure, and temps. That all seems possible with the SOLO DL, except for maybe brake pressure. Do only the dash loggers like the AIM MXS with additional inputs allow for this?

Thanks guys!. BTW - was just on track at Sonoma with VoodooBoss on Black Friday. It was 31 and slicker than snot in the morning, but was a good afternoon. We had fun regardless.
 
Hey
So here I will probably go against humanity. Lol
I dont like AIM products. I personally believe is one of the products like Gopro(and also Apple) that is really overpriced fpr what it offers.
The hardware is ok but nothing impressive (timing is very very similar to my free Trackaddict App in my phone.
Software. I thinknwe all agreed that it seems like a windows 3.1 software.
The only real advantage is the connection with their own camera for an easy overlap of the data. although i don't think the camera quality is incredible and also I've never seen it outboard.
Plus microphone sucks.

My point is.
You can buy 20$ obd bluetooth connector to link with your phone to have timing and data. Then with RACERENDER3 you render video and datas together. All for 20$
Or
There are other product which i believe are superior.
APEXPRO in example. Apexpro has a little case with green and red light for a analogic visual understamdimg how you doing on track (realtime ) connected to your phone or ipad(i do ipad)
plus and more important you can review data RIGHT AWAY between session without the need of a LAPTOP or downloading anything. Everything is ready to go. I use ipad cause i can see better on the ipad. But you can connect it to the iphone.
They also do timing and now they have the OBD function. They also collaborate with harry laptime for easy video and overllapping data (i don't use it tho)


Last.
I really really hope someone will come out with a dedicated camera for racing that will include high-quality ext mic without the need of huge connector. (Like recent gopros or garmin)
Hope this helps.


Ps. I passed by sonoma to say Hi to Rick and Byron. What car do you have?
Alex

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
 
1,289
1,113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Philly Metro Area
For a Bluetooth OBDII connector, I would recommend the ODBLink MX+. A bit more at about $75 but has a good app of its own and now works on Android and iPhone/iPad.

I use it with Harry's LapTimer. Then use RaceRender to overlay data onto GoPro Hero4 video.
 
Yall realize the key to AiM products is not the lap time it is the actual data traces you collect.

Any tom dick and harry app can collect lap times.

Aim is a data system not just a lap timer. The lap time is the very tip of what it is used for.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
225
312
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Virginia
@strengthrehab Please expand on your experience with Aim, I'm on the fence if Aim Solo DL can noticeable help my safe progression (I only have a few track weekends underneath me) or just use Harrys for a while? I mention safe only because I've heard of less experienced drivers can get into trouble once the start trying to improve lap times.
 
@strengthrehab Please expand on your experience with Aim, I'm on the fence if Aim Solo DL can noticeable help my safe progression (I only have a few track weekends underneath me) or just use Harrys for a while? I mention safe only because I've heard of less experienced drivers can get into trouble once the start trying to improve lap times.
Honestly, just watch these.



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741
1,075
TX
I've done it both ways and I'll never touch a phone based lap timer again.

I run an AIM Solo II DL and SmartyCam and it's worthy every bit of the $1,700 I paid. Every bit.

Every time I get in the car and go out on track, my laps are recorded with data and overlay. I can access the video with overlay in seconds compared to over an hour try to sync them together on my laptop. It's just so easy. And I have data of every lap. I can check oil temps, water temps, etc. Going back a year.

But most importantly, it just works every time the car is on track....without me ever needing to check it. Worth it.

I get individual wheel speed, rpm, water temp, head temps, steering angle, AIT, voltage, brake pressure, etc.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
I don't know why it would take an hour to sync the files. My installation of TrackAddict on the phone does the data sync in real time or close to it, by the time I'm back in the pits I can view the laps on the phone with data points such as corner speed, though I rarely ever do that.

When I get home I copy the files I want from the phone to my laptop and process the sessions/laps that I want to save in keeper videos. It takes minutes to copy them over and using a standard template in RaceRender it takes maybe 5-10 minutes to make a video. The log file (XLS) contains 26 columns and usually around 36,000 rows of data for a 20 minute session.

For my purposes (admittedly low end on the video side) it is more than adequate and the entire schmozzle, including the OBDLink MX BT unit and the cheap chinese phone, cost me less than $200USD. As always, YMMV.
 
ONce again, AiM products are less about video analysis and more about the data traces you get from the logger.

Trackaddict is not on the same level at all for actual data traces and data analysis.

How many pro drivers use trackaddict? How many use AiM products?

I can take the video card out of my camera and have instant data overlays. I can then pull up my data traces and compare 2 laps or fastest lap from each session and see where things happened. Not only the fast lap, but why was it faster.

If all you want to see is cool videos--then yes, get track addict and race render. if you want to actually know why a particular lap was better than another and use that data to improve.--get a real data logger.
 
741
1,075
TX
I don't know why it would take an hour to sync the files. My installation of TrackAddict on the phone does the data sync in real time or close to it, by the time I'm back in the pits I can view the laps on the phone with data points such as corner speed, though I rarely ever do that.

When I get home I copy the files I want from the phone to my laptop and process the sessions/laps that I want to save in keeper videos. It takes minutes to copy them over and using a standard template in RaceRender it takes maybe 5-10 minutes to make a video. The log file (XLS) contains 26 columns and usually around 36,000 rows of data for a 20 minute session.

For my purposes (admittedly low end on the video side) it is more than adequate and the entire schmozzle, including the OBDLink MX BT unit and the cheap chinese phone, cost me less than $200USD. As always, YMMV.

Do you have the shake/shutter on your phone video? When I used HLT to do the video and data, it gave me horrible video. I also had a dead phone from the battery drain.

Syncing up laps with separate video and data is pretty tedious. At best, 30 mins...every single time. Have laps from different sessions? Gotta do it 2x.

The AIM setup isn't worth it for everyone, no doubt. But you'd be shocked how much you appreciate it once you get used to it.
 
Camera is the older GoPro Hero 3. Microphone is the one in the GoPro. I've found positioning the camera on the center of the horizontal bar on the cage and leaving the seal on the cover allows appropriate level of external sound to be recorded while minimizing wind noise. Below is same setup in my current car. Through trial and error I've found how to make low cost GoPro camera's worked fairly well.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
Do you have the shake/shutter on your phone video? When I used HLT to do the video and data, it gave me horrible video. I also had a dead phone from the battery drain.

Syncing up laps with separate video and data is pretty tedious. At best, 30 mins...every single time. Have laps from different sessions? Gotta do it 2x.

The AIM setup isn't worth it for everyone, no doubt. But you'd be shocked how much you appreciate it once you get used to it.

Yes, there is some shake on the phone, I attribute that to the windshield mount, it's a RAM mount and it's pretty good but really isn't up to the job at times. The biggest issue I have is the phone losing focus, I have it locked to infinity but it keeps trying to focus on near things for some unknown reason, as I mentioned it's a cheap chinese phone. It does have a fairly high end chipset so it is pretty fast at keeping up with the data flow. I keep it plugged in to the USB port on the car so battery drain on the phone isn't an issue.

I just like the simplicity of doing it this way and my needs for the video are fairly low end so it works for me. I'm still getting all the data points and that's really the biggest issue for me.
 
Ideally, I'd like to get RPM, speed, gear, throttle position, brake pressure, and temps. That all seems possible with the SOLO DL, except for maybe brake pressure. Do only the dash loggers like the AIM MXS with additional inputs allow for this?

Yes ;)
 

Fair

Go Big or Go Home
Supporting Vendor
277
492
Plano, TX
...I dont like AIM products. I personally believe is one of the products like Gopro(and also Apple) that is really overpriced fpr what it offers.
The hardware is ok but nothing impressive (timing is very very similar to my free Trackaddict App in my phone.
Software. I think we all agreed that it seems like a windows 3.1 software.
The only real advantage is the connection with their own camera for an easy overlap of the data. although i don't think the camera quality is incredible and also I've never seen it outboard.
Plus microphone sucks.
I 100% agree with Alex / Flyhalf above. AiM software is hot garbage to work with, their SmartyCam video camera is low quality (720P) and overpriced, and we need better camera and data analysis software options from AiM.

I do, however, love the AiM SOLO (we had a Race Technologies DL1 before and their lap readout was junk) and I won't make a lap on track without my Solo in the car. Real time readouts for predictive lap timing is a huge advantage - its like having a driving coach with you reading out corner-by-corner your performance.

splash-test-2-L.jpg

In the last 2 years I've been testing more and more cameras, and I'm on my 5th video camera at the moment, and still not happy. The GoPro cameras all seem good on the "action cam" sports, but in a race car they pretty much suck - they are difficult to turn on remotely (wifi remotes kill batteries), you have to buy a bunch of extra doo-dads and modify the case to use an external mic (the internal mic is junk), and they won't work without a powered mic, from what I've seen. The GoPro5 also has better image stabilization than the 6 or 7, which have some serious "frame turning" issues when used in-car. After testing with it for a few events in 2019 I just know the GoPro ain't for me.

IMG_2881-S.jpgIMG_2879-S.jpg

I am an AiM dealer and have used their systems for many years, digital dashes, etc. The AiM 720P SmartyCam only gives you real time integration with their data loggers, video quality suffers, and the included audio is also junk. If something goes wrong on the SmartyCam (doesn't auto-start, or battery dies or SD card fills up) you lose ALL data logging. Frustrating. It got so bad that I was running TWO Aim SOLOs when I was trying to make the SmartyCam work (see below). This camera is also shipped with a tiny SD card and it (like the GoPro) that fills up in like 20 minutes - and then it bricks your data logger. It is also picky about what brand/model memory cards it can work with. I lost all video from multiple events learning these lessons - which I have written about in our S197 and S550 build threads over the years. SmartyCam is not for me.

IMG_2997-L.jpg

For years I have just used various high def video cameras (1080P) and merged the data with the video using RaceRender software (below). It is a pain staking process that you cannot do "track side", so I learn from my data / video days or weeks after an event. But it is better than other data+video merge packages I have used over the years. Once you make your own template prepare to spend hours on that) you can save time on future videos. I then take the merged video and trim it down and edit it in another software package.

racerender-screenshot-L.jpg

This time consuming manual merging of data and video has some usable data, and video, but not as much data as I'd like. Frustrating to know that lots of CAN data is there in the car, but the AiM just doesn't interpret it well. I tried the integrated video/data software from AiM (below) with the SmartyCam, and... it just doesn't work as well... if at all.

smartycam-setup-rs3-L.jpg

I recently bought this Canon vid cam, looking for a better quality camera that 1) had an external mic port, 2) had a narrow FOV lens, and 3) had good image stabilization. Loaded it up with the best SD card I could fine... and it shoots great video in the shop, but won't work without a powered external mic, and the shaky-cam footage it makes in a race car is unusable. Image stabilization is junk.

IMG_3674-S.jpgIMG_3002-S.jpg

The most reliable setup I have had was this 7 year old Sony vidcam below, which had a wired remote with lights that gave you feedback... turn it on, it lit up one LED. Start recording, another LED came on. Very handy and reassuring... but the camera is so old now that the video quality is dated and it has no external mic, which ends up with a lot of audio buffeting with the on-board mic. The nice thing about these narrow angle lens vidcams is you can position them on the harness bar of a cage behind the driver, then you can see ahead of the car and some flailing around by the driver. Try a wide angle camera mounted back there and you see mostly car interior with a thin sliver of the road ahead.

DSC_0313-S.jpgroll-bar-camera-mount-S.jpg

I've paid for Track Addict and Harry's Lap Timer phone apps, and while they are easy to use and give instant results, I have not seen their timing accuracy to be as good as the GPS on the AiM - relative to the AMB timing loop (what competitors live and die by). Where the phone apps fall short is they don't do predictive lap timing / real time readouts very well. Not to mention you are using sometimes a $1000-1200 personal cell phone in your race car, which has some risks. And again - you have to mount them at or on the windshield, so they can be very jittery in the mount.

P9271297-S.jpgDSC_8690-S.jpg

Plus with a phone you have to use an OBD link to the phone for data, and hope the on-board mic works worth a damn. It pretty much limits you to mounting the phone at the windshield, to get usable video and to see any lap timer on the screen. This prohibits your "roll bar" mounted camera, so you can never see what the driver is doing.

DSC_8688-S.jpgDSC_8687-S.jpg

Any windshield mounted camera / phone tends to suffer from a suction cup mount and weird viewing angle. I have used this Sony HDR-MV1 like this, with a suction cup mount, running the camera upside down and close to the windshield. VERY good video quality, it has a wired remote (but with a super short cord), and I can use an external mic. It works well, but again, its a wide angle lens and only works AT the windshield. And I have to manually flip the video in software before I can merge it in RaceRender... then edit it again one more time. Laborious process.

79657251-978A8557-S.jpgDSC_8689-S.jpg

I tried this wide angle Sony HDR vidcam mounted at the roll bar behind me and the video was unwatchable. I always use an external mic with a "dead car" muffles out the buffeting - either powered or not works well on this Sony (the powered version is just one more thing to kill a battery on). I usually run the mic mounted at the center console, low in the cabin. You can here me yelling at the car, and the engine note, but not much wind noise.

IMG_6307-S.jpgIMG_6309-S.jpg

Was just at the PRI 2019 show and saw the Vbox system in the Race Logic booth. REALLY nice video, integrates with data in real time (with 2 proper HD cameras), has a real time predictive readout... but it costs ~$3500 for two 1080P high def cameras + a lap timer box/logger. With the optional HDMI port you can stream merged data+video to a 4G enabled device that can feed FB, YouTube, etc. Handy for your crew in the pits or fans at home, maybe. Still, it is pretty pricey...

So I don't know if I am of any use - because I'm still looking for the video + data solution. I've got 3 different setups I use and none checks off all of the boxes. I will likely keep AiM Solo DL for data logging and predictive timing, keep looking for the right external vidcam solution with an external mic and narrow FOV lens, and just merge the two streams after the events. This is a huge time suck and not at all helpful for testing track side. :(
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Have to admit the Trackaddict apps predictive timer is very useful. Has a green or orange bar to tell you how your lap is going.. Would be lost without it. But. yes its a shame we did not have some better alternatives!
 

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