FIRST FitBit App?

Other Chit-Chat
#1

I know there are a lot of FIRSTers who use Fitbit and other step counting devices. It’s always interesting to see how many steps you get during a competition weekend. (Last week most of my crew and I averaged about 20,000 steps each day).

Has anyone developed a FIRST Fitness app? If yes, can you please share.

If not, someone please develop something that can:

  • Incorporate data from FitBit and Apple Watches (and other?)
  • Let people choose their alliance (blue/red) at the beginning of a competition, and see which alliance wins at the end of the week
  • Let people state their role at an event, so that we can see which roles average the most steps in a weekend (all volunteer roles listed, plus team roles like scouting, driver, pit crew, mentor…)
  • Let people win awards, blue banners, trophies, medals for reaching various levels of steps each week.

I don’t code, and it’s not something that I’m really interested in learning at this time. If you do, feel free to take this idea and run with it. Make it open source, like TBA, so that others can learn from it and improve upon it.

#2

I would buy a fitbit just to participate in this (if it can’t take data from my Garmin watch). I’d love to see this happen!

#3

Another idea for it:

The option to choose the event you’re at, so we can see which events over the weeks have accumulated the most steps.

#4

I’m looking at the FitBit API Docs, and it looks like you can just get the daily activity from a API request, meaning it can be a web app that integrates easily. It looks like the Garmin Vivofit has a similar API that can be used, it’s just behind a request document. It seems quite easy to connect these two, then a simple iPhone app could be written for the Apple Watch for it.

#5

I’m so down for this. I actually went out and got a pair of (bright pink) shoes to wear strictly for robots after how much I was running around Week 1. Even if there isn’t an app written, I think it would be cool to have a running tally event to event.

Rob and I are at Centerline this weekend…you bet I’m ready to talk smack. :slight_smile:

#6

For all iOS devices, Apple has some APIs for step counting and more https://developer.apple.com/reference/coremotion/cmpedometer. It will work on both the watch and phone (as long as you are not Adam Heard).

#7

I’d totally go buy a FitBit just for this.

#8

I wore one at the Asheville NC district event last year. I got 36,000 steps in one day. The pit and the stands were very inconvenient, and had to run up and down 2 flights of stairs.

I was exhausted.

#9

Yep, I think especially with all the running I have to do to account for the sight lines as a GA this year, I’d put up a fairly good fight in the step count race :joy:

My day job is as a backend software engineer so I’d be entirely fine with handling the server (and related hosting) components and any engineering project management necessary on this, but mobile development is not my forte (and unlike most(?) FIRST people I know, I’m an Android+Pebble guy), so the actual app piece would have to be built by someone else.

#10

I would love to participate in this. It sounds awesome!
Side Note: I had my first successful regional last week in which I managed NOT to run at any point during the entire event! it was magical. :smiley:

#11