Abstract:
Every participant in motorsports strives to achieve one goal: optimal vehicle
performance to overcome competition. Although this is clear, what may be surprising
is the significant impact that changing weather has on the performance of race
vehicles. Every race team (sportsman or professional) uses a weather station
to predict performance and setup their vehicle. Until recently it was assumed
that a static weather reading at the beginning of the race was sufficient to
accurately predict performance. However, in 2009, the Smyth family race team
found this assumption to be false. For this reason, the Onboard Weather Station,
a weather station that is mounted in a race vehicle, was designed, built, and
tested. The Onboard Weather Station collects temperature, barometric pressure,
and humidity experienced by a vehicle during the course of a race. Data is stored
on a secure digital (SD) card, and can also be transferred to a PC wirelessly
while the car is in motion. This is advantageous to race teams with multiple
vehicles, allowing them to have immediate access to weather data and make changes
to their vehicle(s) waiting to compete. The device was designed as a series of
modules to make it adaptable to many types of vehicles and racers. These modules
are interfaced using a controller area network (CAN) bus. At the current time,
the Onboard Weather Station is completely functional and ready for on-car testing
Full report (pdf)
Poster (pdf)
