Anybody care to tell me why stackmat timers are used?

[Deleted member 2864]

Seriously, it's a STACKMAT TIMER. Not a CUBING TIMER. Would it hurt to creat a more cubing friendly format... like one that takes cubing averages (doesn't need to connect to cct). What reason do we use the stacking timer?

 

[Odin]

Stack mats are easy to use at competitions. They are very portable. Also it would be hard to design, create, and mass produce a “cubing timer”. And doesn’t WCA have a deal of some what with Speed Stacks?

 

[Unknown.soul]

Do you have any better timing devices that could be used?

Stackmats are great because they make it easy for competitors to stop the timer for accurate timings of solves.

 

[d4m4s74]

Rubik's timers are compatible with the stackmat displays and generate scrambles

but they are about 4 times as expensive

 

[EmersonHerrmann]

And tons of people already have them. Rubik's already has timers, they're like, 100 bucks, while stackmat timers are around 20 dollars without accessories.

 

[hr.mohr]

Seriously, it's a STACKMAT TIMER. Not a CUBING TIMER. Would it hurt to creat a more cubing friendly format... like one that takes cubing averages (doesn't need to connect to cct). What reason do we use the stacking timer?

There are several reasons:

It works great
It is available (duh)
It is cheap

Florian Weingarten has made a display that has an avg calc feature.

Would it hurt to do some searching?

 

[brunson]

And Speedstacks makes them available to loan for competitions at no charge.

 

[blade740]

And tons of people already have them. Rubik's already has timers, they're like, 100 bucks, while stackmat timers are around 20 dollars without accessories.

The rubik's timers are different. They sense when the cube is picked up. Theoretically, we'd like to time from the first move to the last. If we can't do that, we have to settle for the most efficient way to time "outside" that: so no moves are done when the cube is not being timed. There's really nothing stopping a competitor from doing a U move before/as the cube is picked up on a rubik's timer.

Plus, the game would change in several events if we were to change the timing scheme. I believe on a rubik's timer you have to drop the cube back on the pad. It's a pretty small pad. You'd have to drop more accurately. In fact, I don't know if a 7x7 dropped from a foot or two up would break the timer. Instead of dropping your puzzle on a large rubber mat, you're now dropping it on a $100 piece of technology.

 

[Ton]

Well with Rubik's timers it is possible to stop while doing the last turn, also when starting it is possible to start a turn and pick it up

Beside this the sensor is effected by light , so timer must be adjusted to its environment. Also Rubik's timer magic is not possible

It is great to practice with as it as an onboard scrambling and display the average

This is why the speedstack is more practical , beside this it is cheap

 

[soccerking813]

To change it would be like changing any other thing that has been used for a long time and people are used to, and changing those things usually starts a war...

 

[CubeThing]

Speed Stacks Timers Are Good Because:
1. They are very cheap
2. They plug into displays
3. They can save times, but not averages and only 3 times can be saved.
4. More accurate
5. Pretty much Cheat proof

 

[Inusagi]

The stackmat timer isn't only good. I got an X-cross in a competition, and that would have been a sub 11, but the the timer stopped at 0.02-.-. That f****** mistake is making a lot of good times getting away, that happened with me twice in the same competition...

 

[Rubikgenius]

And Speedstacks makes them available to loan for competitions at no charge.

Ummm... no, someone has to pay for shipping

 

[IamWEB]

The stackmat timer isn't only good. I got an X-cross in a competition, and that would have been a sub 11, but the the timer stopped at 0.02-.-. That f****** mistake is making a lot of good times getting away, that happened with me twice in the same competition...

It's happened to me a few times, but you just have to concentrate and fully lift your hands when you start.