[Other] TOBU Ping

[in4d]

99.9% the parts were made in China or from China, so get used to your new gods.

"Gods" lol, all I NEED is guns and ammo some of which are still resourced and made here in the USA. And the Food grown in my green house. Everything else is a want, so they have no power over me :thmbup:.

 

[TOBU Discs]

Hi Guys. Here's a few answers to the latest queries. The housing makes the tracking tag "water resistant". We say that because we've only tested it down to around 4-5 feet. At that depth no water came inside the housing. We don't know how deep we could go before water starter seeping in though, so we can't say "water proof". During the time that we were designing and testing, we glued a lot of stuff to the bottom of discs. In every case we saw that every aspect of the flight characteristics were affected in some way. And the crazy thing was that it wasn't consistent. The additional weight and shape of the tag affected a Sidewinder differently than it did a Wraith, TeeBird, etc. Not to mention that keeping the tag attached was super difficult when the disc hits any solid surface. The bottom line is that adding anything to a disc will affect it's flight, regardless of the size and shape. So, even though we tried to stay away from making our own line of discs, it was the only way to solve all of the issues we were experiencing. Our design counteracts the additional weight and shape of the tracking tag. Additionally, our modular design allows you to change out what's inside the housing. We have some other ideas for that so stay tuned. The name TOBU is the Japanese word for "To Fly". (it has meaning and we thought it was catchy) And the name Ping is related to the ping that you get when tracking something on a radar. Finally, the electronics in the disc are made in China. As always, thanks again for the suggestions, opinions, and interest in what we're doing. If you like it, please consider donating to our Kickstarter campaign.
Thanks!

 

[Mocheez]

What is your main focus right now? Are you trying to release a full line-up of discs or more focused on enhancing the technology and software?

Do you plan on releasing any other discs in the near future? Fairway? Midrange? Putter? Are you going to be releasing discs at an MVP rate or more of a Vibram rate?

Will you have an option to buy a disc without the tracking unit? For those that don't want to spend $30 per a disc, it would be a nice option if your customers could buy the initial tracking unit, then buy additional discs at a cheaper price without the tracking unit and switch it out as needed.

Or for those that aren't interested in the technology at all, you could have an option to purchase your discs with a blank chip of equivalent weight and offer it at the standard $15-$18 pricing.

As far as I know, you are the only manufacturer in North Carolina. Traditionally, consumers strongly support their local manufacturers. Discraft is popular in Michigan, Gateway is popular in the St. Louis area, Vibram has strong sales in Massachusets, etc. Why not take advantage of the strong disc golf population in North Carolina by marketing your product with a Carolina theme? As someone else mentioned, TOBU Ping sounds like something that came out of China.

 

[mart.einpalu]

TOBU Ping technology

I understand the connectivity is based on Bluetooth. In some conditions it is quite unreliable. Or has it gps also included? How far on average it is traceable with the phone?
You also claim that it switches on when thrown - does it mean that there is an accelerometer included? Do I need to switch it off manually?
How long does the battery last? Eg I play often in the wintertime and sometimes need to look for the disc under the snow...
From this thread I understood that the weight of electronics inside is about 10gr. Is that correct?
Anyhow I think that this is the way industry will go. Sooner or later. I put myself to beta-testers list.
Wish you luck! Thanks for feedback.

 

[OJnBasquits]

Beta tester, bump.

Comparison pics to well known driver please. on table, stacked, bottoms..opcorn:

 

[Phlick]

I think they're going to have a hard time with the word PING, seeing as it's one of the largest GOLF companies in the market place.

While I agree that the bigger need exists for a trackable device that could be attached to any disc, that would still make the disc illegal under current PDGA rules and is a showstopper. (aside from the fact that adding anything to a disc changes it's flight characteristics as stated by the Tobu poster above).

I think this is a good start to integrated electronics in a disc, however personally I would have concerted efforts more towards a training focus (RPM/Speed/time aloft) sensors/instrumentation payload vice focusing on location.

The simplest/most elegant solution is often the most effective. A beeper (alone) would likely be just as (if not more) effective for location finding instead of a bluetooth based solution.

 

[TOBU Discs]

TOBU Press Release

Hi Guys,
Sorry for the late reply. We've had an overwhelming response and it's been difficult to respond to everyone. More of the additional questions and inquires on this thread can be answered in the latest TOBU Press release here:
http://allthingsdiscgolf.com/ping-first-digitally-trackable-disc-tobu-discs/
For any additional questions, please direct them to the contact form on our website: http://www.tobudiscs.com/contact-us/
Thank you!
The TOBU Team

 

[Horsman]

Players who lose discs more often are beginners, makes sense that the first disc with tracking technology is a high speed driver. Something that a beginner should probably not be throwing. Decent concept, horrible implimentation.

 

[Mocheez]

Players who lose discs more often are beginners, makes sense that the first disc with tracking technology is a high speed driver. Something that a beginner should probably not be throwing. Decent concept, horrible implimentation.

For many disc golfers, you'll need more than just a distance driver. Do you have plans on other molds? Different plastics?

"We already have a whole line of Distance Drivers, Fairway Drivers, and Mid Range discs planned. We even have molds for some of them already. We want to start with Ping and grow from there. Fortunately, we have connection with a few different companies that can provide us with a wide variety of plastics. Our plan is to stay in touch with our customer and find out what type they would like to see next."

 

[Mocheez]

I think they will be successful if they focus on creating high quality discs first and foremost. Like I said earlier, they should have an option to purchase these discs with a blank chip of equivalent weight installed in the housing and sell it at normal retail prices. If they have a good lineup of discs, the option to add a tracking chip is icing on the cake... not to mention future plans for acceleration / velocity measurements. But $36 for each disc is going to be a tough sell.

 

[Mocheez]

Halfway through and they have raised a little less than half of their goal ($4,906 / $10,000). It's going to be close. opcorn:

Final approval on the Ping from the PDGA should give them a much needed boost.

 

[mpacker5]

New pic on kickstarter:

I'm actually pretty excited for the textured rim. The main reason I throw discraft/DGA is for the texture the lettering gives. It makes me a little sad when I get a discraft disc without the lettering.

I hope Tobu make it, I think they have great ideas. Of all the random new companies, very few of them actually bring something new to the table.

Friendly jab: If salient can make it, these guys should have no problem.

Don't get me wrong, I think salient is a fine company, they had a bit of train wreck start but seem to be making decent plastic.

 

[TOBU Discs]

TOBU Update

Hi Guys,
We're 52% funded on KickStarter! Help us get the word out so that we can reach our goal. Once we complete the KickStarter campaign we will be able to release the additional ideas that we have been working on. Do you have any ideas that you'd like to see implemented in the game of Disc Golf? Send them our way and we'll consider placing them into the TOBU Discs. Lets enhance the sport together. :hfive:
Kickstarter: http://bit.ly/1BHfNVN
Check out the latest update on our Textured Rims!

 

[THUGNIFICENT763]

I think you'd want the disc do be designed with the tracker in mind. Even if they slimmed it down and put it on a 165g destroyer, its not going to fly like a 175g destroyer.

For me to use it I'd want it to be part of the disc. If nothing else for constancy's sake. I spend far too long trying to figure out how to throw these things somewhat decently just to glue something to the bottom and mess it all up.

I play night rounds with a Throwlite all the time, I tape it to the underside of my flight plate. When a disc is in flight, a pocket of air is created, anything inside of the rim on the underside of the flight plate will NOT affect aerodynamics or coefficient drag in any way. As long as you have whatever you are affixing to the underside perfectly centered, there is really no issue.

 

[Oklahyzer]

^^^ Not true.

Effect may be minimal with very thin items like coins and the lights we have, but there's an effect. Thicker items like the housing for this tracker...definitely, and one that is probably noticeable.

Centering is very important.

 

[Mocheez]

Halfway through and they have raised a little less than half of their goal ($4,906 / $10,000). It's going to be close. opcorn:

They hit $10K with 45 hours to spare. Should be interesting to see where they go from here.

 

[jswoods1984]

I like the idea, but I feel like the training chip would have been the better place to start. A tracker is nice, and I really like the idea of the textured rim, but i feel like the response would be a lot stronger if you started with something to help to improve your throw rather than just track your disc. I feel like this is going to reach a small target market, but I believe everyone would be onboard with something that will track spin, release angle, etc.... I like the forward thinking regardless!

 

[slingdiscs]

Congrats on getting funded!

 

[mpacker5]

I funded the Tobu kickstarter and am a beta tester. Overall I'm impressed. Good work from a brand new company. Here's the email I sent them about the disc:

-how do you like the plastic?
Love the plastic. Great grip, looks good. I live in Oregon where everything is always wet, even if it hasn't rained in a week, the plastic grips very well even when wet. I haven't hit anything with the disc yet so I don't know about durability, but it feels like it should be very durable.

-what flight ratings would you give the disc?
9 5 -1 2 It's hard, the dimensions lead me to think it's more of a speed 7-8, but it flies more like a speed 9-10.
Very nice flight, good work making a unique mold in a very overcrowded market. I'll throw it some more after work today. Nice little s curve easily out past 300 feet ending dead middle.

-is the textured rim feature useful?
I love the textured rim. I always grip on the roughest spot.


- is the app user friendly?
Love the app, I've got a few nit picking details I'll wright up and send. Overall it's great, it looks great and is snappy. Very intuitive compared to the other disc golf apps I've used. Good work.

-is there anything you'd like to add to the app or the disc?
The cap is rather difficult to remove sometimes. I've noticed that the tracker has a square component that sticks up a little and there is a recess that is should go in. If I miss the recess then the tracker pushes on the cap making the threads bind. If the tracker needs to be aligned to the disc, have a little notch so that it can only be put in one way. But even without that, it's still a little difficult to unscrew. Maybe a little slot to put a coin in would help and/or make the cap textured like the rim to add better grip.
The beeper could be louder. If there's traffic nearby or a bit of wind I imagine it's going to be hard to hear.

 

[mpacker5]

Also, they changed the name to "Charge" and it is PDGA Approved.