Nine To Noon Solve for Tomorrow winners tackle race-tracking and mountain bike safety
Oct 30, 2025
Jack Harker, a youth competitive sailor and Solve for Tomorrow winner, developed an innovative low-cost, mesh-networked live race-tracking system for sailing. He explains the technology behind his system, which uses GPS and long-range radio to provide real-time boat positions. Cameron Moore, another winner and high school student, discusses his groundbreaking inflatable neck brace for mountain biking, designed to deploy upon crash-induced accelerations to protect riders from serious injuries. Both projects showcase remarkable advancements in safety and technology.
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Low-Cost Mesh Tracking For Youth Sailing
- Jack built a low-cost race-tracking system using GPS and long-range radio mesh to avoid ongoing SIM costs.
- The mesh network lets many cheap boat nodes relay positions to a base node for live web visualization.
Prototype By Chunking And Reusing Tools
- Break complex hardware projects into smaller chunks and prototype each part independently.
- Use existing dev boards (ESP32) and open-source projects (MeshTastic) to accelerate development.
Real-Time Plus Replay Enhances Coaching
- The system supports both near real-time tracking and post-race analysis with only seconds of delay.
- Real-time feeds improve spectator engagement and give sailors replayable data for coaching.