^Title T24 Takes Pole Position in Racing Car Optimisation

Knowing the exact angle that the wheels are at allows racing teams to diagnose issues and achieve a trade-off between grip when cornering and stability of the car on a straight line.

Applying positive or negative camber to a wheel means that the tyre will be at an angle whilst the vehicle is going straight. As a result, when the car goes into a corner the forces will push the weight of the vehicle onto the whole tyre, giving it more grip and allowing it to go into the corner at a higher speed without losing traction.

The Sebastian Loeb Racing Team (SLR) wanted to maximise traction in the turns whilst not losing stability on the straights.

The SLR team needed to be able to measure and set up their cars quickly between sessions. Previously SLR mechanics were measuring the camber with separate tools, by hand. This caused various issues. Firstly the tools were not precise and the measurements were inaccurate due to human error. Logging was also done by hand and was very time consuming.

Another factor the team had to bear in mind was that on race day, pits can have high levels of radio noise due to the numerous electronic devices operating in the proximity. These can reduce the bandwidth of wireless devices and limit the maximum speed of transmission.  The driving need for a solution was to provide technology that could connect all sensors to the same piece of software to provide fast, precise testing of weight and incline.

The team used inclinometer sensors with voltage output and Mantracourt‘s T24-ACMi-VA voltage transmission modules (designed to take 0-10V), to measure the incline at various angles.

In addition to incline, they used T24-ACMi-SA strain modules to find out the precise weight at each wheel.
Using T24LOG100 (Mantracourt’s logging and viewing software), they were able to check the car’s centre of gravity. This ensured that the weight of the car is distributed to optimise dynamics. The ride height of the car was also adjusted, to get the weight distribution that they required for optimisation. The weight distribution is an important factor on a racing car, especially when breaking into a corner. The team adjust the weight to get more or less turning (entry, middle, and exit) and to find the best compromise for the driver.

The diagram below shows an example of angle adjustment on a tyre, taking into account the effects of G-Forces when entering a corner.

The WISE gap system dramatically improved accuracy, repeatability, reliability, reproducibility and provided time savings from ~2 hours per door, to ~5 minutes per door, for setup and measurements. Nick Turicek, Account Relations Manager at Inora explains “One of the key elements of the WISE gap system is its ability to wirelessly measure door seal gaps, allowing user friendly operation in applications ranging from manufacturing facilities to design and engineering, where the wireless component allows dynamic testing. This key wireless communication is made possible by the T24 wireless module from Mantracourt. which powers the system. We worked closely with the engineers at Mantracourt to create a wireless solution to suit our exact requirements”. He continues “Automotive OEM ’s are better able to prevent water leakage and wind noise issues in all stages of production as well as conduct analysis and testing that was previously unavailable”. “Customer feedback is positive. While certain areas may only use a portion of the system’s full capability, it’s flexibility on both hardware and software allows OEM ’s to utilize it in the way that makes the most sense for them. It is used during launches to improve the door fit and over the long term has helped OEM ’s understand door fit designs”.