PRESS RELEASES
Innovative Timing Systems Showcases Innovative Alien® RFID Technology in its Race Timing Solutions
ITS’ Jaguar Race Timing Platform Delivers a Lower-Cost, Real-Time
Solution for Athletes and Event Organizers
September 24, 2008, CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Innovative Timing Systems (ITS), a newly launched race timing solutions provider, today announced its partnership with Alien Technology, a leader in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services. Using Alien®’s RFID technology, ITS developed the Jaguar Race Timing Platform, which utilizes advanced chip, hardware and software technology, to reliably and cost-effectively track athletes.
Previous race tracking technologies have primarily consisted of attaching bar code labels or low-frequency (LF) RFID tags to the laces of runners’ shoes, and using costly and cumbersome mats, spread on the ground to track runners at checkpoints throughout race tracks. ITS saw an opportunity to develop a better solution built on RFID technology.
“When we were looking for an RFID partner, Alien was the clear winner. In our industry the use of RFID is fairly new, and Alien brings an unparalleled level of experience and technology,” said Kurt Hansen, founder and President of ITS. “The other key factor in choosing to work with Alien was that we were able to talk with people at every level of the organization. The access, insight and assistance that Alien provided every step of the way showed us how much they value us as a partner.”
ITS’ Jaguar Race Timing Platform is a fully integrated race management package that offers both the hardware and the software to make a race run smoothly. It includes the Jaguar cabinet, antennas, and waterproof timing chips for each racer.
The Jaguar cabinet contains Alien’s 9900 readers, backup power, networking interfaces, a dedicated computer; fans and various support tools. Cabinets are placed at the start, transition, and finish lines to collect the times of all race participants. Each race participant is issued bibs or water-proof timing chips that incorporate Alien Squiggle and Squiggle SH tags that are read by the Jaguar Timing System. With Alien’s highly consistent and reliable UHF readers and antennas, runners no longer have wait after crossing the finish line to have their unique ID tag scanned.
This combination of Alien tags, readers and antennas gives the Jaguar Race Timing System an extremely high accuracy rate. Jaguar can deliver split times to the race coordinators, generate real-time reports, manage race registrations, and interface to third-party applications. ITS offers optional modules are also available for capturing race photos, videos, and providing real-time updates to cell phones and web sites.
“RFID is absolutely the best way to manage races,” Hansen said “The Jaguar Race Timing System makes life easier for race organizers and more interesting to participants. We can deliver real-time splits during the race which the athletes appreciate and our software allows friends and family to get updates with times, photos, and videos. In addition, because our timing chips are inexpensive and disposable, the race organizer doesn’t have to worry about collecting them at the end of a race.”
The Jaguar Race Timing System utilizes Alien’s Squiggle, Squiggle SH and ALR-9900 readers, and the project was supported by Blue Bean.
About Innovative Timing Systems (ITS):
Innovative Timing Systems is a premier race timing solutions provider that has extensive racing experience. Not only did ITS design the platform, they use it to time their own races. The development and testing team responsible for the product and are also serious athletes who compete in some of the largest triathlons and marathons in the nation. ITS is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri. For more information, please visit www.innovativetimingsystems.com.
About Alien Technology
Founded in 1994, Alien Technology is a leading technology and product provider of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (IC), tags, readers and professional services. Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from partners, help solve business problems for customers to improve productivity, processes, security and asset tracking for closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are currently implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense, and more. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA®) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low-cost RFID tags. Quatrotec, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alien Technology, is a specialized professional services and technology firm that provides complete solutions to meet the sophisticated requirements of the transportation industry. Alien’s facilities include corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, OH; Quatrotec’s offices at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO); and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. For more information please visit www.alientechnology.com.
Alien, Alien Technology, the Alien logo, and FSA, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alien Technology Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright 2008 Alien Technology Corporation. All rights reserved.
Innovative Timing Systems, the ITS Jaguar logo, and Jaguar Race Timing are trademarks or registered trademarks of Innovative Timing Systems, LLC. Copyright 2008 Innovative Timing Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.
