Telemetry and Data Logging System for the Wildcat Formula Racing Car

Abstract

In the world of motorsports, data is paramount for competition. Obtaining information about the track, the environment, and the car allows a team to better understand and tune their car to be as optimal as possible. This project created a modular system that transmitted data about the behavior of the car to the pitlane in real-time and could be configured to work with a variety of sensors. The system is centered around two Raspberry Pi computers that communicate with each other through RF transceivers. One Raspberry Pi is located onboard the race car and the other is in the pit lane. Connected to the onboard computer are many sensors: GPS, accelerometer, and strain gauges, all gathering information on the behavior of the car. This data is transmitted to the remote computer where it creates graphs and other visualizations about the car’s behavior in real-time using software for the pit crew to analyze.