Lap Timer
The first lap timer prototype.
Commercial motorsport lap timers often suffer from a common set of flaws: they are expensive, their screens and buttons create ingress points for water, and high-vibration environments like track motorcycles or dirt bikes inevitably cause spring-loaded SD cards to fail mid-session.
Our latest mission at Void Voyagers is to solve this by engineering a completely open-source, bulletproof, and "headless" GPS telemetry logger.
Built around the powerful Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller, this project strips away the fragile components of traditional dash-mounted timers and replaces them with an automated, set-and-forget architecture designed to live out of sight under the fairings.
Core Mission Goals:
Zero-Interaction Automation: The timer is wired directly to the bike’s 12V ignition. It turns on when the key turns, waits for a 15 mph GPS speed threshold to begin logging, and uses a custom supercapacitor circuit to safely save the LittleFS file system and power down when the bike is turned off.
Vibration-Proof Storage: We eliminated the mechanical SD card slot entirely. Telemetry is logged in binary to an onboard 128MB SPI NOR Flash chip, ensuring data integrity even at 15,000 RPM.
Wireless Data Extraction: Disassembly is for the garage, not the pits. The device utilizes a built-in Wi-Fi co-processor to act as a captive portal. Riders simply connect their phones to the timer's local network in the pits, open a browser, and download their lap times and telemetry instantly.
High-Fidelity Telemetry: Utilizing a u-blox MAX-M10S GNSS receiver pulling 10Hz data and an automotive-grade 6-axis IMU (with architecture to support a secondary, remote IMU via differential I2C or CAN), the timer captures precise racing lines, braking zones, and G-forces.
Fully Open-Source: From the custom PCB layout to the RP2350 firmware, the entire stack is being developed in the open for the community to build, modify, and improve.
Current Status: We are currently in the initial hardware bring-up phase. The Revision 1 custom PCBs have arrived, and despite a brief encounter with "magic smoke" due to a manufacturer BOM mix-up (capacitors accidentally spec'd as inductors), the RP2350 core is officially alive, drawing a healthy 8mA, and communicating over USB. Next up: I2C sensor validation and captive portal testing.
Stay tuned as we continue to push this hardware to the redline.