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weight, flexible and cost-effective to ensure maximum points at the Formula Student competition. The overall development time of this system was drastically reduced due to use of various simulation software and computer aided design programs.
DESIGN PROCEDURE
To reduce overall development time while maintaining reliability of the final output, a well-defined design procedure was adopted. The circuit was initially modeled and its behavior simulated on a simulation software namely Proteus ISIS (Figure 1). Smaller and much simpler circuits which had to be incorporated into future PCB designs were tested on breadboards. The first versions of PCBs usually require debugging and testing, hence low cost prototype boards were fabricated to ensure proper operation (Figure 2). After few revisions, the final PCBs were fabricated which would be used on the car. This procedure further assisted in identification of many redundant circuits.
ABSTRACT
Formula SAE is a student design competition in which a prototype race car is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. This paper covers the design and development of a cost-effective DAQ (Data Acquisition) system for a Formula SAE race car. The system is capable of logging data from a maximum of 33 sensors and a logging rate of 36Hz has been recorded for 18sensors. The system controls radiator fan and coolant pump based on the sensor readings. The paper further discusses the basic sensor requirements and filter designs for obtaining consistent data. A comparison is drawn between two DAQ systems developed during the same year, to highlight the difference in accuracy and logging rate due to variation in circuit design.
INTRODUCTION
Data acquisition is the process of collecting real time data from a wide variety of sensors and converting it to values which can be interpreted or manipulated by analysis software. When it comes to fine tuning a race car for gaining maximum performance in terms of acceleration, braking, handling and fuel economy, DAQ systems play an imperative role. Without DAQ systems, analyzing and verifying vehicle design would have been impossible. The DAQ systems currently being used by a majority of Formula student teams are either expensive (DL2 Data Logger priced around 2,085$, used by Dartmouth Formula Racing [2]) or heavy (NI CompactRIO weighing minimum 1.58kg, used by Formula Manipal [3]). This paper covers the development of a DAQ system to aid teams with limited budget in satisfying their data acquisition requirements. The primary design goal of the 2010 ORI (Orion Racing India) electronics team was to make a robust and reliable DAQ system which aids vehicle analysis and quick troubleshooting. At the same time the system had to be lightPage 1 of 6
Figure 2 - Prototype PIC development board Based on team requirements and feedback received from senior members, the electronics system for the 2010 car was developed into two distinct yet interconnected modules, namely DAQ Unit and Dash-Board Unit (Figure 3). CAN
(controller area network) bus was used for communication between the two units.
Wheel speed is sensed using an NPN type inductive proximity sensor (Figure 4). As a tooth on the wheel passes by the sensor, a pulse is generated in a recurring manner. The pulse train will increase in frequency as the vehicle speeds up and decrease as the vehicle slows down. Therefore, a frequency to voltage converter, LM2907 was used to convert the generated frequency into a corresponding output voltage.
ACCELEROMETER
When a race car moves with a high velocity on a race track, it experiences g-forces in lateral and longitudinal directions. These forces have a particular threshold value under a given set of conditions, beyond which if the car is accelerated, the forces may increase so much so as to cause loss of traction. To prevent this, the g-forces need to be monitored and the threshold levels identified. The MMA7260Q, low cost three axis capacitive micro machined accelerometer was selected to monitor the vehicle accelerations. It features signal conditioning, a single-pole low pass filter, temperature compensation and selectable sensitivity (1.5g/2g/4g/6g). Its capacitive approach offers several benefits when compared to the piezoresistive sensors used in many other accelerometers, notably a wider temperature range and response to DC as well as dynamic vibrations. The sensor outputs voltages proportional to the experienced g-force.
the shock absorbers of the race car. The calibration graph of the shock travel sensors is linear.
down with the fuel level. Errors introduced in the readings due to fuel slosh were reduced by implementing a moving average filter with a window size of 15.
TELEMETRY
Key vehicle parameters, if communicated via wireless transmission to the pit crew may enable quick error detection and troubleshooting. To provide a wireless link between the DAQ Unit and the pits, XBee-Pro RF Modules were selected. These modules communicate with the DAQ units via RS-232. The outdoor range provided by the modules was about 1.5km in line of sight.
POWER CARD
A noise free, light weight power supply is an essential requirement of a portable DAQ System. A Power Card based on low cost linear voltage regulators and equipped with features like surge voltage protection (using Metal Oxide Varistors), over current protection (using Polymeric Positive Temperature Coefficient fuses), reverse voltage and over voltage protection (using silicon avalanche diodes) was implemented to satisfy this requirement(Figure 10).
Figure 11 - DAQ v1 The CP3838 GPS (Global Positioning System) module was selected to satisfy the vehicle tracking requirements. Data recorded from the GPS receiver played a significant role in validating sensor data. The track shown (Figure 12) was plotted using co-ordinates recorded from the GPS receiver. Interface to an MMC/SD card for logging sensor and GPS data was provided via SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface). The data is stored in as comma separated value file format which can be easily imported into MATLAB for analysis. A logging rate of 33Hz was recorded for 14 sensors interfaced to the module. Figure 10 - Power card Page 4 of 6
interest for the analog signal is DC to 1 kHz. Hence, a 4-pole low pass filter was designed to provide an attenuation of 80dB/decade with a cut-off frequency of 1 kHz (Figure 14).
CONCLUSION
This Data Acquisition System will be used for data collection by the future FSAE teams. It will also provide a platform for development of faster, complex, in-house designed data acquisition units. The module is extremely robust and reliable which has been concluded by rigorous testing. The logged data can be easily imported into tools like MATLAB for analysis. The system boasts of user-friendliness, flexibility in terms of interfacing multiple sensors and is cost-effective when compared to off the shelf products. The cost of the DAQ unit and sensors combined is approximately 250$. A possible improvement is to implement the circuitry using SMT (Surface-Mount Technology) and integrate the power card on the same circuit board to reduce the overall system size. The X-bee pro can be substituted with alternate transceivers like Maxstream 9XTend or Microhard n920 for an extended range.
REFERENCES
SAE International, Rules & Important documents, http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/rules/, Aug. 2010. Christopher Kane, Testing and Tuning a Formula SAE Racecar, Dartmouth Formula Racing, 2006. Khan, S.; Sonti, S.; , "Data acquisition system for a 600cc formula SAE race car," Vehicular Electronics and Safety (ICVES), 2009 IEEE International Conference on , vol., no., pp.46-49, 11-12 Nov. 2009 doi: 10.1109/ICVES.2009.5400316 Dogan Ibrahim, Advanced PIC microcontroller projects in C, Newnes, 2008. Gregory T. French, Understanding the GPS, Georesearch, 1996.
Figure 13 - DAQ v2 Analog filtering was used to remove extraneous noise from the signal lines. In the absence of an analog filter, signals outside half of the sampling bandwidth of the ADC are aliased back into the signal path. Once a signal is aliased during the digitalization process, it is impossible to differentiate between noise with frequencies in band and out of band [8]. The signalto-noise ratio of the 12-bit ADC is 74dB and the bandwidth of Page 5 of 6
Andr Lehmann; Andreas Grebner; Christian Pfeiffer, The Electronic System of the FP208, Special issues ATZ-MTZ, 2008. Microchip, Compiled Tips N Tricks Guide, http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/01146B. pdf, 2009. Mya Thandar Kyu, Zaw Min Aung, Zaw Min Naing, "Design and Implementation of Active Filter for Data Acquisition System," icime, pp.406-410, 2009 International Conference on Information Management and Engineering, 2009 mikroElektronika, mikroC users manual, http://www.mikroe.com/pdf/mikroc/mikroc_manual.pdf. Rouelle, C., OptimumG, personal communication, Mar. 2010. NMEA reference manual, SiRF Technology, Inc.
RS-232 MOSFET PLL GPS MMC SD SPI ns Extraneous noise ksps SMT
Recommended standard232, an asynchronous serial communication method Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor Phase Locked Loop Global Positioning System Multimedia Card Secure Digital Serial Peripheral Interface Nanosecond Noise in the out of band frequencies Kilo samples per second Surface-Mount Technology
CONTACT INFORMATION
Kumar Saurav kumarsaurav9@yahoo.com E-7/803, Runwal Estate, Behind R-mall, Manpada, Thane (w)400607, India. +971 55 175 2422
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the 2010 Orion Racing India team and Orion Racing India alumni for their considerable support throughout the project. We express our gratitude towards MathWorks India, Silicon components and Pankaj potentiometers for sponsoring this initiative.
DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS
Formula SAE Student design competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers
DAQ PCB CAN g-force Under steer and Over steer ADC
Acceleration of a body relative to free fall Terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering Analog to Digital Convertor
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