The Platform
The OpenPiste Platform
OpenPiste is not a single device. It is a complete, integrated electronics platform for fencing — designed to cover the full lifecycle of running a piste electronically, from scoring to weapon testing to remote control to spectator display.
Every component is open source. Every component is built around affordable, widely available hardware. Every component has been designed with the armourer and the club official in mind — not just the engineer.
The fencing electronics ecosystem
A modern fencing installation is more than a scoring device. The full ecosystem covers:
- Scoring devices — the core unit on each piste, detecting touches and managing the bout
- Remote controls — hardware or mobile, used by officials to control the scoring device
- Piste monitors — displays for coaches, spectators, and officials showing live scoring
- Weapon and wire testers — armourer tools for equipment validation before and during competition
- Competition management software — handling draws, results, rankings, and federation reporting
OpenPiste currently covers the first four. Competition management software is on the roadmap.
The goal is a complete, open alternative to the proprietary systems that currently dominate the sport — where every layer of the stack is open, affordable, and maintainable by the clubs and federations that depend on it.
Why this exists
Commercial fencing electronics are expensive, proprietary, and difficult to maintain. Spare parts are hard to source. Firmware cannot be updated by the club. Integration with other systems is impossible without vendor cooperation. Clubs are locked in.
OpenPiste was built to change that. The philosophy is simple: reduce costs, maximise reliability, and make the equipment intuitive enough for anyone to operate — without sacrificing the technical quality that competition demands.
The communication architecture
A deliberate and central design decision in OpenPiste is the choice of communication protocol. This decision affects every component in the ecosystem — not just the scoring device.
Most commercial fencing equipment uses Cyrano — a UDP-based protocol that has been the de facto standard for years. It is functional but aging: unreliable by design (UDP has no delivery guarantee), difficult to extend, closed, and hard to integrate with anything outside the fencing world.
OpenPiste is built on MQTT with JSON as a modern replacement:
- Reliable — MQTT runs over TCP, so messages are delivered or the failure is known. No silent packet loss.
- Extensible — JSON messages are human-readable and trivial to extend with new fields as the platform grows.
- Integratable — MQTT is a widely adopted IoT standard. Connecting a scoring device to a local network, a cloud dashboard, or competition management software is straightforward.
- Debuggable — standard MQTT tooling makes monitoring and troubleshooting simple.
This is not just a technical upgrade to one device. It is the foundation that allows the entire OpenPiste ecosystem to communicate reliably and grow coherently — from a single club piste to a full multi-piste competition installation.
OpenPiste components remain compatible with Cyrano-based infrastructure where needed, making adoption possible without replacing everything at once.
The components
| Component | What it does |
|---|---|
| Scoring Device | ESP32-based scoring device, MQTT/JSON |
| Weapon & Wire Tester | Armourer tool for testing weapons and wires |
| Hardware Remote | CYD-based physical remote control |
| Mobile Remote | Android app for remote control |
| Piste Monitor | Browser-based live scoring display (coming soon) |
| Electronics Designs | Schematics and PCB layouts for all hardware |
Who built this
OpenPiste is developed by Piet Wauters, a member of both the FIE SEMI Commission (the technology commission of the International Fencing Federation) and the EFC SEMI Commission (European Fencing Confederation). He served as EFC SEMI delegate at the European Championships in Genova.
All development is done as volunteer open source work.