Remote Coaching with Race Capture

How to coach remotely with live data and video

Using telemetry data and live streaming video, coaches can use these tools to coach live remotely, either from the pits at the track or from the comfort of their home offices or just about anywhere you have an internet connection. Autosport Labs Race Capture and Podium Connect devices stream data logging data to Podium.live website for instantaneous live telemetry data. This data can be viewed anywhere with a web browser or the Podium app. You also can use a cheap camera with a hotspot to stream live video to YouTube. You can then add this live streaming video to your Podium event page to be able to see live streaming data and video in one place. You can use the live telemetry data to quickly find areas for improvement, and then use live video to quickly see what they are doing that needs improvement and communicate this feedback instantaneously to your student/client via cell phone.

Please note: YouTube live streams have around a 40 second delay, so you cannot use the video for live instructing. There is no delay in the data telemetry so you can analyze the data and video and when you see them coming up to the section in question on the live data again, you can tell them what to work on this time around right before they get there.

PodiumLiveVideo.jpg


Items you will need (can be done for under $450)

Your student/client will need:


Initial Setup

Race Capture/Track Setup

*Download and install the latest Race Capture App for your PC
*Signup for a Podium.live account and add a new device to get a DeviceID
*Setup your Race Capture/Track device

{{#evu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlDTo4PnYuA}}

  • Under GPS settings in the Race Capture app, change to Imperial (mph and ft) units
  • Under Race Timing, make sure Race Timing and Predictice Timing is On and change units to Imperial (mi).
  • Under CAN Bus, make sure it is On and CAN Channel 1 is set to the 500K Baud for OBDII
  • Under OBDII settings, add the default Essential OBDII channels presets (click update first)
  • Under Automatic Control, set the Channel to Speed, Start Trigger to Greater Than 25 after 5 sec, Stop Trigger Less Than 5 after 10 sec
  • Under Wireless, make sure Bluetooth and Access Point Mode is On. You may want to change the Bluetooth name (under Advanced) and the WiFi SSID. This will require a full power off/on reboot to take effect after saving it to the Race Capture Track device.
  • Be sure to add your DeviceID that you got on Podium.live in the Telemetry settings
  • Write your changes to the Race Capture device using the Write button.
  • Save your config file to your PC using the Save button (this is important. config info is lost when updating firmware and must be reloaded from the file)
  • Check for new Firmware on Podium.live and update your Firmware if a new version is available. Config data is lost when you upgrade firmware, so you will need to Open the config file you saved and then Write it to the Race Capture Track after Firmware Update.
  • Stick hook Velcro to bottom of Race Capture/Track

YouTube Setup for Live Streaming

  • Go to YouTube and sign in.
  • From the top right, click Create and then Go live.

YTGoLive.png

Note: It will take about 24 hours to process before you can start live streaming. Plan accordingly.


Once your account is enabled for Live Streaming you need create the Stream and get a Stream key

YTGoLive.png

  • Fill out the info for a New stream and click Create Stream (you may want to change the privacy from Public to Unlisted or Private)

YTNewStream.png

  • Once the stream is created, turn on Enable Auto-start and copy the Stream URL and your Stream Key

(should look something like this rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnop-qrst )

YTStreamKey.png

Yi 4K Setup for Best Video

  • Update Camera Firmware
    • Download the latest Firmware for YI 4K Action Camera
    • Save the file to the MicroSD card and change the name to firmware.bin
    • Insert the SD card into the camera and power it on. Follow instructions on the screen.
    • Delete firmware.bin file when done.
  • Power On Camera and go into settings by clicking the gear icon bottom right

Yi4KSettings.jpg

  • Use the following Video Settings:

YiVideoSettings.jpg

    • Resolution: 1080/60
    • Field of View: Wide
    • Metering Mode: Average
    • Video Quality: High
    • WB: Auto
  • Click the gear icon on left side to go into Camera Settings:

YiCameraSettings.jpg

    • Go into Wifi settings:
      • Set WiFi Frequency to 2.4G (or 5G if your Hotspot is set to only do 5G)
      • Turn off WiFi (the script will automatically turn it on)
    • Go into SD Card settings and do SD Card Format
    • Default Camera Mode: Video
    • Brightness: High
    • Beeps: High
    • Mic: Low
    • Sound Effect: Wind
    • Video Standard: NTSC
    • In Advanced set:
      • Screen Auto Lock: 60s
      • Auto Power Off: 10Min
      • Set Date and Time
      • Battery percentage: On
    • Location: United States

Yi 4k Setup for Auto Streaming

You can make the Yi 4k camera automatically stream to your YouTube account whenever you push the record button. This makes it super easy to use.

  • Download this File:Yi4KAutoStream.zip and copy the contents of the unzipped files onto the micro SD card. (note GB size does not matter. you cannot live stream and record video to SD card at same time)
  • Edit the rtmp_info.conf file:

RTMPConfFile.png

    • Replace YOUR_SSID_HERE with the SSID Name of your WiFi Hotspot. (Push the button on the Hotspot to get info)
    • Replace YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD_HERE with the password to your Hotspot (Push the button on the Hotspot to get info)
    • Note: You may want to change the SSID and Password on your Hotspot before doing this. See the documentation that came with your hotspot for information on how to do this.
    • Replace YOUR_RTMP_URL_HERE with your full YouTube Stream URL including the StreamID appended to it. It should look like rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnop-qrst (replace abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnop-qrst with your StreamKey and make sure there is a / after the live2)
  • Save the file and insert the MicroSD card into the Yi 4k and that's it. Whenever someone powers on your Yi 4K camera and hits the record button, it will automatically start streaming to your YouTube channel (assuming your Hotspot is powered on and nearby).

4G WiFi Hotspot notes

  • 720p video streaming will use about 0.5GB/hr. Assume you will need 1-2GB per day depending on how good your client is about turning off the camera right away after a session.
  • If they forget to turn off the camera after a session it will consume a lot of extra data which can be expensive. You may want to give them an allotment per day and charge them if they go over.
  • If you already have a wireless account from a major carrier, you can usually add an hotspot fairly cheap.
  • You can purchase new and used WiFi hotspots a lot cheaper on eBay than buying retail. Just make sure they aren't several years old.
  • Be careful using so called Unlimited Plans. These plans are not good for streaming video, because after a certain point they throttle the bandwidth. Streaming video requires high bandwidth, and if they throttle your bandwidth, your video will be unusable.
  • A 10GB/mo data plan should allow you to do (4) two-day weekends a month, assuming an average of around 2 hours of track time/video per day.
  • You can get a Verizon Business plan with 22GB of data for $45/mo per device. Contact Eric Kaul at Verizon for details and discounts for motorsports members.
  • As mentioned above, you may want to change the default SSID and password for your hotspot. Consult the documentation for your particular hotspot. Pushing the button on the hotspot may give you information on how to change it.
  • Stick hook velcro to bottom of hotspot

Event Setup

Charge hotspot and camera and then mail out equipment to client:

  • Race Capture/Track with GPS Antenna and OBDII dongle
  • Yi 4K Camera with MicroSD Card that has scripts inserted
  • 4G WiFi Hotspot (ensure there is enough data left on plan. 720p streaming uses ~0.5GB/hr)
  • Camera mounting equipment
  • USB Charger and all 3 cables
  • Velcro

Podium.live Event Setup

  • Login to Podium.live and go to Events and click on Create a new event
  • Once the event is created on Podium.live, go into the event and click Add a device to this event
  • For Video Embed field, enter https://www.youtube.com/embed/ followed by your YouTube video ID of your live stream.
  • To get the Video ID of your live stream
    • Login to YouTube
    • Click on your profile pic on the top right, and click on YouTube Studio
    • Click Videos on the side navigation, and then Live under Channel videos.
    • Click on the pencil icon next to your Remote Coaching live stream to go into the edit details page.

YTLiveStreams.png

    • Under Video link, copy the last portion of the URL that contains random letter/numbers. (ie. youtu.be/XpajniKJi_Y)This is your live stream VideoID.

YTStreamDetails.png

    • Your video embed URL should now look something like https://www.youtube.com/embed/XpajniKJi_Y
    • You should be able to re-use t his video embed URL for all of your events, so save it somewhere to quickly re-use later.
    • Paste your video embed URL into the Video Embed field on Podium.live device event page.
  • See this wiki article for more info on how to Add video to Podium