Electronic IPPT scoring system walkthrough

Had my first Electronic IPPT today. Amazingly for a whole group of 50-100 candidates, only 3-4 PTIs are needed to take them all, with one watching each station at every go. This is so unlike the IPPTs I’ve conducted before during my active days. The thing now is that you need not take the stations in sequence – I remembered last time that there was a particularly sequence to follow and you can’t ‘jump’ from station to station. But now you can!

You will be given a number tag upon registration, tagged to your NRIC where all your records will be stored. You can start a station after placing your number tag at the station’s own sensor pad then all your records will be stored in your Tag using RFID. With that, heres a run through of the stations:

Pull-ups
Placing your RFID tag on the holder, you can mount the bar with both over or under grasp or alternate grasps. The machine will count (in a ‘manly’ but rather awkward electronic voice) the number of chin ups you did when your head cuts the laser sensors (found similarly in ‘smart’ lift doors and escalators placed above the head area) and go below the bar. What the system can’t really detect is the straightening of the arms when your head is below the bar, which needs intervention of the PTIs. Furthermore, if you do valid pull ups with very wide V style with hands at both ends of the bar and your “rest” point is somewhere with the tip of your head sticking above the bar, the system won’t count too.

Sit-ups
No more doubles/partner system here, courtesy of a Velcro strap to hold your legs in place. After placing your tag on the sensor pad, you can do whatever adjustments you want, stretch, bua long long… then just lie down, the timer will only start when you do your 1st sit-up (i.e by ‘freeing’ the laser line of sight by lifting off the ground. The system will register a sit-up count when it get a successful registration of the laser sensors being alternated (i.e On-Off-On). What the system cannot detect is you touching your knees and you can even register a sit-up by doing crunches! (not going up fully) which is what the PTI particularly looks out for. Another flaw in the system is that when you are done (but with your time is not up yet) and if you sit up with your arms behind you (cutting the lasers beams behind you in the process) the system will still count!

Shuttle Run
There are 2 variants, the one I personally seen is one with a gantry to register start stop (and not being at the mercy of notorious human reaction times) the rest is all the standard Shuttle Run Rubber mat, only there are no blocks but only marked lines to touch at both ends. The other kind have a whole “sandbox” like flat rubber “bowl” where you have to touch 2 metal plates at the end (was told this is so at Bedok Camp). But both registers time start and end at the end. Timings are more consistent with this system and it beats having to grab a wooden block which will not too often fly off your hands when trying to grasp them.

Standing Board Jump
Same, place your tag on the sensor pad to load your details be greeted and “ready” the system. The system will register a fault even at the slightness intrusion over the red start line. The system registers jump distances to the next lowest distance at set intervals, i.e …<216, 221, 225, 230, 234, 239.. and so on. So basically upon landing it registers the last unobstructed laser beam at whatever interval and returns the jump distance from there, that includes too if you happen to fall back and land with your hand behind you too – as standard procedure to the non-electronic version. There are green LED markers demarking target distances from 216cm onwards. It’s usually good to use the LED markings as an obstacle and try to jump over them, doing do can get your 239cm and above.

2.4km Run/Jog
I’ve not run this yet due to CAT1 in my test, but Maju seems to be better than the other camps. The 2.4km comprise of 3 rounds round a 800m camp perimeter with terrain, so its harder to pace compared to the 400m round track if you have not run the route before, but otherwise more relaxing and not so mentally taxing to run. This is the only station where you have to wear your number tag to run which uses the RFID to track your lap counts and timing (similar to the RFID number tags in the 2005 Safra Sheares Bridge Run, Army Half-Marathon or the similarly, like the Champion timer chip in SCM, VM, etc…).

That is all I have to share from my first Electronic IPPT! Good luck for yours!