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Formula 1 is the ultimate test of technological excellence and driver skill. But for many years it struggled in its mission to maintain the right balance between these two driving principles. Systems such as traction and launch control made driver ability less critical to the outcome of races, but a ban on these systems proved almost impossible to police. At the same time, the sport’s governing body, the FIA recognised that the costs of competing were becoming unsustainable for some teams. To solve one problem and assist in the solution of the other, the FIA put out a tender in 2006 for a standard set of electronics for F1. What you probably know about McLaren is that it makes Formula 1 cars. What you might not know, is that it designs and makes embedded processor systems. Every car in Formula 1, every US Indy car, and every US NASCAR, has an engine control unit (ECU) that was made in Surrey by McLaren, and there are trains and planes carrying McLaren electronics too. Why did McLaren, who have a team in F1, get the contract? Its because they have been supplying complete control systems to F1 since 1993, they were a trusted supplier to many of the teams and they first pioneered the use of model-based software at the start of 2000, several years before this approach to control system development was introduced into the series automotive markets. This has been a critical part of the success of the standard ECU. The control and data systems on F1 cars are complex because of the demands imposed by high-revving engines, seamless-shift gearboxes and various drive-by-wire controls. The complexity is even greater when the requirement is to control several different engines, with several different gearboxes, using a single hardware and embedded software platform. Also, the system had to support different telemetry systems between car and garage and provide the ability to use different data systems in the garage. “There are 24 hours of assembly in a Formula 1 ECU,” said van Manen, “with lots of manual assembly to pack the electronics into a small space.” McLaren won the tender for a new system covering the 2013 to 2015 race seasons, which had to support the V8 engines in 2013 and then be adapted, via software, to run the new GDI turbocharged parallel hybrid power units in 2014. Telemetry is the other big use for electronics in a Formula 1 car. “Electronics on F1 cars either control, or are for telemetry. Not much else is allowed,” said van Manen. “There are 120-130 sensors on a Formula 1 car. A quarter of them are for control, rest are to see what the car is doing: measuring positions, temperatures, and movements.” These sensors are made in-house at Woking alongside the ECUs and are sold to other motorsport disciplines, as well as being used in the firm’s own cars. Around 1.5Gbyte of data is gathered from sensors per car during a Formula 1 race. This is logged on the vehicle and transmitted back to the team’s track-side headquarters by microwave telemetry. Below is a clip taken from Sky Sports F1 back in 2012. #JB17 #ForzaJules Toby Veart. Technical Analyst for F1 Right Now & WFOpenWheel Network Site Founder of Formula 1 Technical© @tobyveart | formula1technical.com -
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7/4/2023 06:36:25 pm
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