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How to read the data collected from the main telemetrics
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In motorsport, apart from the engine, chassis, tyres and mechanical parts, electronics has now also become a decisive factor in determining a winning car. The phenomenon also regards karts and it is linked to the invention of data acquisition systems to be installed on-board to monitor the main operating parameters of the engine and, more recently, sensors which analyse the driver and the vehicle’s setup. The study of this data also helps to show the driving differences between drivers or the points on which a certain type of setup is better compared to another. To begin with, we provide an overview of the typical screens of the most important sensor channels that help to understand how karts and drivers are behaving.
Once the data has been downloaded onto a computer, the display also depends on the instrument that is used and the relevant programs; naturally, however, the information remains the same. A typical main screen is one that shows the channels useful to have, in a single glance, a general idea of lap performance (and perhaps, as in the screenshots at right, a first comparison between two drivers): speed, steering and throttle. The graphics can be displayed based distance or time.
The speed of a kart can be measured based on the GPS signal, or by installing a sensor that reads the speed of the rear axle, or one of or both of the front wheels. In this case, the sensor actually measures an angular speed that must be converted into km/h, after calculating the rolling radius of the tyre in accordance with the following equation: V [km/h] = ω [rad /s] * R[m]
The two systems, GPS and sensors, can also be used together, since one does not absolutely exclude the other. Let’s say that, although both channels should theoretically provide the same value (since they both measure kart speed), it is normal to notice a difference in the two graphs. This is due to tyre slipping, required to generate grip, or due to jolts and bumps that make the engine speed go up and down very sharply, which is recorded by the sensors but not by the GPS.
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