Fully Automatic Time
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Fully Automatic Time is used when timing sporting events, most commonly athletics (Track & Field), Horse Racing, Dog Racing, or anything with a start/finish line. Also known as FAT or Fully Automatic Timing, it requires the use of a sensor attached to the starting device used to start the clock, and an evaluation of an image to determine a time. Any method involving a human starting or stopping the timing device manually cannot claim to be a true FAT system.
Methods used in the Olympics and other events use a Digital Line-Scan Camera. This camera has an image sensor only a few pixels wide. When the sensor is placed on the finish line (commonly painted white or some other color), the camera scans the line at anywhere from 100-10,000 lines per second depending on the operator setting, assigns a time to each scan, then assembles the scans in time-order to form an image that can be evaluated using a variety of proprietary software that comes with the timing system.
Video-based systems also exist; however, they cost less due to the limitation that VHS and SVHS frame rates have in relation to timing every hundredth of a second.
[edit] FAT in athletics
According to the IAAF, any world records in athletics, as well as national or Olympic records, or qualifying time for Olympic Games or World Championships, set in a sprint event must be timed by a FAT system to be valid.
International rules also stipulate that 0.24 seconds be added to any hand-timed mark in the 100m or 200m event, and 0.14 seconds to any hand-timed mark in the 400m event. In the case of an adjusted manual time to FAT timing, and an original FAT time being equivalent, the FAT time will be considered more accurate, and thus the athlete will be given the higher seed, or the victory, if that is the case.
