If you use an AIM data logger, you might have found a situation where you end up with the wrong start finish line referenced. You can see all your data but it is not clear how, or even if, you can move the start line in AiM Race Studio 2.
What you want is to analyse your complete laps using your tracks’ actual start finish line. You do not want to be forced into a work around with some random start finish line the AiM device decided on.
This article shows you how you can move the start line in AiM Race Studio 2 using a function called “GPS Lap Insert.”
The Situation
To visualise where AiM is cutting the start finish line for your session data, you can open the “Modify track map” like this:
You get presented with a dialogue box that looks something like this:
There is a lot going on here. This is where you can setup your split time segments. You might have thought (as I did to be honest) that this would also be a logical place to be able to move the start line in AiM Race Studio.
Unfortunately it is not.
Here is an example I have had to correct:
You simply want the start finish line to be aligned with the actual start finish line on your track.
If you can move the start line in AiM Race Studio you can relax. At a minimum you will be able to compare your data with lap times you get from the tracks timing system. You can compare your data across sessions. You can compare you data with fellow drivers. Etc.
Getting AiM to cut your start finish line in the right place is therefore a big deal.
Of course, you can work around it but you might (rightly!) feel you should not have too.
Read on for the “ah ha!” solution on how to move the start line in AiM Race Studio.
Moving The Start Finish Line Reference With GPS Lap Insert
To move the start line in AiM Race Studio you need to use a function called “GPS Lap Insert.”
In fairness, once you find it, the dialogue is really easy to use. There are a bunch of options for how to move the start finish line. Once you have it done, then the software easily and simply recalculates all your lap times using this this reference. The software will also remember your selection for this session file so you only have to do this once.
The functionality is therefore pretty good.
The challenge is simply finding this function!
Where is GPS Lap Insert?? ?♂️
How Do You Find GPS Lap Insert In AiM Race Studio 2??
The GPS Lap Insert dialogue box is located in the “Lap Manager” tab.
You can get to that a number of ways but the easiest is to click on this tab at the bottom of the page:
Pro tip: If you click on this and nothing seems to happen (as seems to happen to me all the time!) try this. At the top of the page, click on “Windows” –> “Tile Horizontally” and it should appear. Moving on …
The “Lap Manager” looks like this:
Again there are lots of things you can do here but you’ll see over on the top right a button for “GPS Lap Insert.”
Click that button and as if by magic ? you get this:
GPS Lap Insert Dialogue
Hopefully you will now be leaping for joy!
Or at least now less likely to throw your laptop across the workshop floor …
The little white box you can see in on the track map above is the current position that AiM thinks is the start finish line. In this case, this is wrong as it is the collecting area just off the track.
What has likely happened is that the AiM Solo has just taken the first point it could find from when the racecar was turned on.
At least it recorded the data (!) but having a start line here is no use. How can you sort this out?
Options For Selecting The Start Finish Line
Hopefully the options you have here are fairly self explanatory. However it is worth running through them just so you are doubly sure what each one is doing.
1: Use Start / Finish from GPS Track Database
This is giving you the option to use a start finish line reference from the built in AiM GPS track database. I’ve no idea why it does not ask you to select one of these when you load the file but all good.
If you click the radio button and then click “Select GPS Track” then you get this dialogue box:
If your GPS data traces pass through (or close too) a start finish line that is stored in the AiM database, you will get presented with the option to use one.
In this example, I’ve only got one start finish line option but you might have more depending on your track.
Select the one you want and click “Confirm Selection.”
This is my preferred method, that I would suggest you try first.
The reason is that these database start line points have (likely!) been calibrated against the actual track start finish line timing equipment. They are therefore likely to give you the most representative times in comparison to your official circuit derived lap times.
If you have no options to select from here then click “Exit” and you can use one of the other methods.
2: Set Start / Finish with Cursor Position
The second option you have to move the start line in AiM Race Studio is to use the cursor position:
Click on the radio button for “Set Start/Finish with Cursor Position” as in the image.
Then click on the track map where you believe the start finish line actually is.
In this case I’ve clicked where the little red square is located.
Clearly this is a bit of a guess. That is why picking from the database is really your best option.
Setting The Track Width Option:
Of interest, you will also see the Track Width option at the bottom.
This tells the software how wide to create the “GPS gate” that it uses to work out how wide to make the start finish line.
If you think about it, you are only choosing one point here but the track is in fact quite wide. You can therefore pass down the straight in a variety of positions across the width of the track. If there was just one GPS point you needed to run over to register a lap then it is highly unlikely you would ever get any times recorded.
To make these GPS timing systems work, they instead create two extra points either side of your point, that are square to your direction of travel at the time. In effect they create two points on either side of the track inline with the actual painted start finish line. This is quite a clever solution and it is used for all the segments as well.
The width is important as you want to make sure that you capture the racecar crossing the line at any part of the start finish line. You therefore have the option to make this GPS Gate larger or smaller to match the track you are on.
If you are not happy to use the start finish line in the GPS track database, nor want to guess the position with a cursor press, you have two other options.
3: Set Start Finish Line Manually
It is possible you might have the actual Latitude and Longitude of the start finish line. If you do, then you can input those here.
You still have the option to adjust the track width if you need too.
The software will then cut the start finish line at this GPS coordinate.
4: Set Start / Finish By Referencing A Previous Test:
By “previous test”, AiM mean another logged session file at the same track.
You might want to do this for a number of reasons.
The primary reason I’d use this is to compare laps that have been taken from different drivers or, for whatever reason, your session data is not lining up properly.
You need to have the other session in your database.
You then click here to select which one you want to reference. The laps will then be recut to make sure that all your data for the two sessions lines up in a way that you can then compare them.
If you do not do this then it can become impossible to compare braking points, turn in points, or when one driver was gaining on another.
Therefore note to yourself:
If the AiM data you want to compare does not line up, then GPS Lap Insert can solve this.
In Summary – How To Move The Start Line In AiM Race Studio
After you hit “Continue” you are asked to confirm the new lap times that will be calculated. Agree and then you should see this lovely “it all went ok” box!
It will likely be immediately clear from looking at the Measures Graph if this has actually worked.
To be doubly sure, you can always check again in the Modify Track Map dialogue. Here is the result when I moved the Cadwell start finish line to the position stored in the GPS Track database:
Moving the start finish line in AiM Race Studio 2 is not as easy as it could be but once you find the right dialogue box it is actually simple.
Bookmark this page should you forget exactly how to do this ? … Then check out the further reading suggestions below. Also sign-up now to my weekly(-ish) newsletter for free resources and all the latest articles delivered direct to your inbox.
Happy GPS Lap Inserting … ?
Further Reading
How do you create custom sectors in AiM Race Studio? Full guide here.
Where do you go after looking at split times? Try the delta-t channel. Learn about it here.
Are you using all your racecars grip? Know how to get this info from your logger? Here’s the article.
No clue where to start with motorsports data analysis? Could this be the course for you?
Create a Gear Ratio Map in AiM Studio. Watch me take you through this on the AiM Webinar series.
