OT, Nascar test rigs.

[Peter Nachtwey 15]

I was at Charlotte, NC last where the Nascar race is going to happen this afternoon. There have been people camping out around the race track for days now. I never would have believed it. On Wednesday I visited ADI where the KD-rig was developed. The KD-rig can be used to see how the geometry of the car changes as it travels around the track. Data is collect for every foot around the track and played back so the tires are moved the same way the tires would be moved on the race track. These require HUGE cam tables. The speed at which the simulator indexes through the table is determined by a virtual speed so that any reasonable speed can be simulated. Eventually the speed of the the actuators is reached and the simulation can't move any faster. What was made clear to me was that the back axle actually steers a bit depending on if the left rear tire or right rear tire moves up when a bump is hit. The distance between the tires change and move forward and back relative to each other by a small amount based on the how the tired is elevated ( load applied ). See this http://www.deltamotion.com/peter/videos/Na...cials%20Out.mpg Nascar is limiting the amount of testing that can be done before race day. This adds to the demand for these test systems.

[TimWilborne 108]

Peter meets Nascar...now that is an interesting combination

[Peter Nachtwey 15]

I am not a NASCAR fan. I knew little about racing and nothing about testing or even that it existed until I became involved. However, designing and programming the test rigs are worthy engineering problems. I like the engineering problems.BTW, there was a race team in the shop when I was there but I don't remember which one. I didn't even bother to ask to look at the car. I just stared at the test rig doing tests on a bare car frame.

[TConnolly 13]

Watch out Peter! You might get some red on your neck. Edited 26 May 2009 by Alaric