Low Cost OWLCMS Keypads for the Olympic Weightlifting Competition Management System
The aim is to provide the hardware using low cost programmable USB keypads and USB cables (total cost under $150AUD including spares) for the Excellent Olympic Weightlifting Competition Management System see https://jflamy.github.io/owlcms4/#/
This is all explained in the documentation on the OWLCMS site however I thought I would document my experiences and devices used on this page
If this is not for you then the Blue Owl system is one supplier that does a complete solution https://blue-owl.nemikor.com/ also RepLogic do a wireless system as well https://www.replogicsystems.com.au/#PurchaseSection
Basically the keypads send keystrokes to the Computer or Tablet via USB ie timer start stop red light etc and you can program the keys easily with the program that comes with them
eg program a key so that it sends a 1 when pressed, this is intrepreted by the OWLCMS software as a good lift from ref 1 – the programming software is very easy to use
Referee Keypads $17AUD each
So you get 3 of these with long USB cables and a USB hub to connect to the athlete facing display and connect a speaker to the laptop or chromebook for the down buzzer
Each Keypad must be labled as Ref 1,2 or 3 and the a red and white label stuck on each – and then programmed accordlingly as below – see lower down page for programming instructions
Timer Keyboard $20.71AUD
The keys must be labeled START STOP ONE TWO and then programmed accordlingly as below – see lower down page for programming instructions
use the , (comma) key to start the timer, and the . (period) key to stop it.
The clock can be reset to the one-minute or two-minute timer value using the buttons, or by using the - and = keys respectively
Programming the Keys
To Program the keys – download and extract the software that comes with the keys the click the key on the program and then the character you want to send and click the download button on the program
– repeat for each key – you can test the keys by opening notepad on your computer and checking that each key press on 4 key display is displayed in notepad –
Make sure you use the numbers highlighted here not the ones at the bottom as they need NUMLOCK
Testing with Attempt Board, Scoreboard, Athete Facing Display Computer , Announcer Computer, Weigh-In Computer and Timekeeper Computer
This is the final system we have at the Club – its using a lot of old TV s with no WIFI and some existing cabling
Please email me at miles@cougarsweightlifting.com if you have any questions or need any help