Ever participated in a running race? Chances are you ran over RIS Rubber. At a running race, time is obviously very important and to register it, MYLAPS time registration mats are placed all over the course. Developed by Teklab and produced by RIS Rubber. Recognisable by their distinctive logo: the cheering figure.
THE ALL BEST
WHAT IS THE SYSTEM?
The modular mats, known as Easymat and BibTag mat, function as antennas within the system. As soon as an athlete runs across a mat – at the start, finish or somewhere along the way – his or her personal RFID tag is registered via an ultra-high-frequency signal. This information is then instantly made available online.
With a detection rate of more than 99.8%, they are among the most reliable systems in the industry. Thanks to the linkable design, the mats can be easily adjusted to the width of the road, making them suitable for both small-scale and large-scale events. The mats are used all over the world, including at major marathons in the Netherlands, America, Japan and Australia.
CHALLENGE: CREATE A RUBBER
THAT DOES NOT DISRUPT THE SIGNAL
FROM DISRUPTION TO SUCCESS
DEVELOPING THE RIGHT MATS
MYLAPS and Teklab have been developing products together for years. In search of improvement, Teklab came to RIS in early 2013 asking if we could improve the existing product. The wish was: wear-resistant rubber running mats equipped with antennas where the rubber does not interfere with the signal.
A nice challenge, because the soot content in rubber is a strengthening raw material, but unfortunately for good signal measurement it is a disturbing factor. So we had to come up with a solution for this. First of all, we started looking for the right composition of the rubber. After several trials and tests, we found the solution so now we are working with a very wear-resistant rubber that does not interfere with signal measurement.
Another challenge was the design and size of the mats. For example, the top is profiled, so the mats don’t become slippery in bad weather. They were also made as thin as possible because you don’t want to trip when running over them at full speed. At the bottom of the mats, space for cables and antennas providing signal measurement has been taken into account. All these requirements are combined in the BibTag mat and Easymat that RIS has now produced more than 20,000 of.
ASSEMBLING THE PARTS
PRODUCTION OF THE RUNNING MATS
The BibTag mat consists of several parts. There is the mat over which the runners run, there is a cable duct through which the cables of the electronics run and there is an antenna plate to which the antenna is attached. All parts are produced individually and finally assembled in the finishing department. This is also where we provide the mats with the distinctive MYLAPS logo. The red pieces are punched out of PPE on the die-cut, which we then manually glue onto the mat.
Careful assembly at Teklab consists of assembling the rubber RIS mats, with the antennas and internal cabling followed by extensive testing with documentation. Time for a final quality check and the mats are ready to be walked underfoot!
