Club training with just a phone
An orienteering training without control flags and without SportIdent: you set the course and print the map with a QR code, the runners run with their phone as the punch, and times and split times appear by themselves on ControlFreak Live. It is all free and nothing needs installing.
What you need
- An orienteering map with a coordinate system, as an OCAD or OpenOrienteering Mapper file.
- A computer with a web browser for the course setter.
- A mobile phone with GPS for each runner, or a Garmin watch.
- Coverage only when the QR code is scanned. None is needed during the run.
How it works
Set the course in ControlFreak
Open the map file on course.controlfreak.se and set the courses, preferably in several lengths. Ordinary courses and score courses can be run with the phone, forked courses not yet. The map stays on your computer.
Put the QR code on the map
Place the special object “QR code for virtual controls” on the map. Each course gets its own code, and the code is worked out from the course: move a control and the code follows.
Print the maps and show the results
Save the PDF and print the maps. When the PDF is saved, the courses are put in a competition on ControlFreak Live by themselves. Tick “Publish results on live.controlfreak.se” in the course dialog so the results are shown there, and share the competition's link in the club's chat.
The runners run
The runner scans the QR code with the phone's camera, and the course opens on run.controlfreak.se, with no app and no account. The phone beeps at each control when the GPS shows the runner is there, and after the finish it shows the time and the split times. With a Garmin watch the course is fetched to the watch with the same QR code.
Compare on ControlFreak Live
While the runners run, the phone sends the start, the punches and the finish to ControlFreak Live, where everyone sees times and split times. The runner can switch this off before the start. The GPS track is never sent: it stays on the phone and can be shared as GPX, for example to Livelox.
Do you set courses in another program?
Export the courses as IOF XML from OCAD or Purple Pen and drop the file on run.controlfreak.se. There you get a QR code per course to print, and the competition on ControlFreak Live is created the same way.
QR codes from the course file →Good to know
- GPS is unreliable in dense forest and between buildings. ControlFreak Run is meant for training, not for competitions.
- A printed code stays valid as long as the controls are not moved, even if you change the map.
- To change the competition on ControlFreak Live yourself, link ControlFreak to your Live account. The runners need no account.