RACECAR ENGINEERING TELEMETRY REPORT FEAT. CONTROL

“Networking: How data transmitting services have evolved to work effectively and reliably in today’s congested airwaves.

By Stewart Mitchell

Racecar telemetry and data transmitting systems have come a long way since the days of huge data logging boxes mounted inside the cockpit collecting analogue sensor input data at low resolution. The information back then was crude and challenging for engineers to decipher after the car came back to the pit lane.

Data logging technology’s evolution saw it move to digital sensors and smaller data storage boxes uploaded to static computers in the pit lane when the car came back to the garage.

Then came radiotelemetry, which could transfer data from the car wirelessly to the pit lane. This was a true revolution for the racecar engineer. Radiotelemetry is still used extensively today, but has its limitations – fundamentally, coverage and bandwidth.

The challenges of coverage are a function of the distance over which radio transmitters can transfer signals and data. Radio doesn’t go very far and causes major signal issues at large circuits, especially those with significant gradient changes such as the Nürburgring or Spa Francorchamps…”

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