SCCAForums.com

Hi everybody,

As most of you know I am still in college.  I am going to be starting senior design next semester and was thinking of ideas.  I just recently purchased a MaxQGPS High Def and during my learning process I have been trying to figure out what the advantages of having a GPS or accelerometer data aq device (Some of you may have read my thread in the technical area -  http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/294785.aspx).  I was thinking that doing a comparison between the two might be a worth while project,  as long as the teacher allows it. 

Does anybody own, or know somebody that does own a Gtech pro or similar device that I could possibly use for a few events this summer to collect data?  I know it might be a hassle to keep swapping between cars or w/e but remember this would be for a good cause.  I'm just putting this out there... Maybe even if somebody with a DL1 system would allow me to put my MaxQ in the car and compare between the budget data aq and the complete package data aq. 

Being a highly technical sport would anybody else have any senior project ideas that revolve around autocross? 

 

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Ryan K

What school?

What major?

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Tim White
'91 ES MR2
Milwaukee Region

Does your school have an FSAE program?? 

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Mechanical Engineering. 

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Ryan K

IlliniSTi:

Does your school have an FSAE program?? 

No.  We have a mini baja team but I havn't been a very big part of it. 

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Ryan K

My initial thought, now that I know that you are in Mechanical Engineering, is that your original MaxQ project idea is going to be very software in nature and not mechanical enough.  Maybe that is your cup of tea, but I would want something that didn't involve proprietary software code and hardware. 

You could instead focus on using you MaxQ system to make mechanical improvements to your car and see how they affect G's, times, etc...

You could also design a component to fit your car that would improve performace, like a sway bar, strut tower bar, etc... within class rules that is an improvement over competitive designs.  Use MaxQ to prove the superiority of your design.

You could compare cars in your class vs. others to see what parts of a course they are superior at (minus driver variability) by using the MaxQ.

Just a few thoughts.

Tim

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Tim White
'91 ES MR2
Milwaukee Region

...or you could design a component for my car that would improve it's performance.......yeah...that's the ticket

 

Seriously...I think Tim is on to that one there.  Make an adjustable swaybar or something...try and find a 'make-sense' size that is not commonly out there (if that is possible on a Civic...). 

We did that for my Focus; I had Saner Performance in FL make a 24mm 3-way rear bar (at that time you could get 22.25, 24, and 25mm 1-way bars for the Focus).

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Erik B.
Wisconsin Autocrossers, Inc
www.waiautox.org ___/\___/\___/\___/\___/\___
2007 Mazda6
2000 "Fozda" ZX2 S/R--STS Anti-Civic

ebnrt:

...or you could design a component for my car that would improve it's performance.......yeah...that's the ticket

 

I'm up for hire as an engineering consultant
 

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Ryan K

whitet777:

My initial thought, now that I know that you are in Mechanical Engineering, is that your original MaxQ project idea is going to be very software in nature and not mechanical enough.  Maybe that is your cup of tea, but I would want something that didn't involve proprietary software code and hardware. 

You could instead focus on using you MaxQ system to make mechanical improvements to your car and see how they affect G's, times, etc...

You could also design a component to fit your car that would improve performace, like a sway bar, strut tower bar, etc... within class rules that is an improvement over competitive designs.  Use MaxQ to prove the superiority of your design.

You could compare cars in your class vs. others to see what parts of a course they are superior at (minus driver variability) by using the MaxQ.

Just a few thoughts.

Tim

 I have thought about that and its defiantly something that I could do but I won't be taking the class until next semester and I would only have a 6 weeks (September to mid October) to design build and test it.  I would love to build a part for the car but going into the winter months would leave no time to test it.  I could do this in the summer and pass it off as progress through the semester... 

Part of Engineering is using sensors and such.  So by taking readings two different ways and comparing results would be an exercise in statistical and error analysis.  That is why I thought comparing GPS and accelerometer data would be a descent experiment.  As for my cup of tea, I have already started looking into the differences on a personal basis so it doing it for school just gets a grade out of it.   

 

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Ryan K

mmmm, statistics...thats tasty!

 

corrected R values FTMFW! 

 

 

Some guys did the dynamic analysis of the miata suspension under travel and load, you may want to look into something like that, test it with different caster, toe, height and bar settings. I think Craig and Jason bought my old camber gauge or I would loan it to you. I've also seen some interesting tests on tire strength vs. weight with some surprising results that sounds like a job for a Datatoys cam ;)

 

Roy 

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www.Datatoys.com

redwhale240:

ebnrt:

...or you could design a component for my car that would improve it's performance.......yeah...that's the ticket

 

I'm up for hire as an engineering consultant
 

 

Hey Ryan, don't know if you're interested or not, but my company is hiring interns and grads for positions this summer...let me know if you're interested.  Our office is in Glenview, IL.  We're looking for electrical and mechanical engineers.

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---Traci---
www.myspace.com/ga_electronchick