Cloud-based Serverless Solution for Facilitating the Organisation of Athletics Competitions

The Athletimeter project was inspired by the annually held Béla Török Memorial athletics competition in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania, which brings together children from the surrounding areas to compete. So far, the organizers have not used any digital solution to maintain the data related to the competition. It was managed on paper, which did not provide the necessary transparency and secure maintenance for the organizers, and there was no opportunity for the spectators to follow the results. Therefore, the authors' aim was to develop a cloud-based system that could facilitate the data management needed to run an athletics competition by digitizing the process. The system provides a web and a mobile interface to its users, and is based on a cloud-based server that introduces the concept of serverless architecture. The server is only accessible during the competition, so the amount spent on resources is significantly reduced. Through the web interface, organizers can manage age groups, contestants, events, and results. In addition, the platform allows spectators to track the results of the different events in real-time. The mobile application provides an efficient alternative for recording results and identifying contestants. It is equipped with a built-in stopwatch to record the results of time-based events and a QR code reader that can associate a competitor with a result by scanning the code on the jersey. The paper aims to present the system, detailing its functionalities, architecture, and different components, as well as the technologies and tools used.

I. Introduction

The Béla Török Memorial athletics competition is held annually in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania, where children from different localities compete against each other. Competitors take part in different events according to age group. The athlete's running time or distance in jumping or throwing is measured by the assigned organizer and recorded on a piece of paper. It is then the participant's responsibility to go to the appropriate desk and show the organizer, who summarizes the results on paper. After all the events have taken place, the completed tables are distributed to the representatives responsible for the children. This method makes it difficult for the organizers to manage and archive the data and for spectators to keep track of the results, which can lead to a significant number of human errors during the organization.