Behind the Scenes: The Evolution of ChronoTrack’s Kairos System

Today, we’re pulling back the curtain to show you what’s been happening since we first revelated the Prototype of Kairos at Conference in February!

From Concept to Reality: The Kairos Development Story

The prototype that timed our conference 5K was fully functional but aesthetically rough around the edges – exactly what a prototype should be. It successfully demonstrated the core technological advancements: enhanced read rates in a dramatically smaller form factor, modular design capabilities, and the Power over Ethernet features that will make deployment so much more flexible and efficient.

But great products aren’t born from first attempts; they evolve through rigorous testing and continuous refinement.

The 3D Printing Revolution

What has been exciting about developing Kairos is that we are able to produce samples of our design iterations in-house. Since the introduction of MiniTrack, we have worked with outside parties to produce prototypes, but our expanded 3D printing capabilities allow us to iterate quicker – a game changer for finalizing the Kairos design.

“We’re able to make design adjustments, reprint the components, and immediately experience the change.” explains our lead engineer. “This rapid iteration process means we can perfect every component before creating the actual production molds.”

This capability has been particularly valuable as we continue refining the design following the conference demonstration. We’re in the process of finalizing all componentry before our first production run, ensuring that every aspect of Kairos meets our exacting standards.

Key Design Improvements

One significant change since the conference is our migration away from the e-paper display originally showcased in the prototype. After extensive testing, we determined that the refresh rate capabilities of the e-paper technology weren’t the correct fit for the demands of race timing.

Instead, Kairos will feature a monochromatic OLED display, providing improved responsiveness and matching visibility of e-paper while maintaining excellent power efficiency. This shift represents our commitment to making design decisions based on real-world performance requirements.

We’ve also continued improvements and to weatherproofing. Race timing happens in unpredictable environments, from desert heat to unexpected downpours, and the valuable insights shared by timers at our conference have helped refine this critical aspect of the Kairos system.

The Road to Release

We’re getting closer to the finish line with Kairos and making significant progress. Timing professionals interested in seeing the latest developments can book a personal demo with Troy at https://meetings.hubspot.com/troy-musseau.

For those who’ve already pre-ordered, we’ll be sharing regular development updates to keep you informed as we move toward release.

The next generation of race timing technology is taking shape in our lab, and we’re excited to bring it to the timing community very soon.

Follow ChronoTrack on Instagram and LinkedIn for more behind-the-scenes updates on Kairos development.