VBOX Applications
Below are examples of typical VBOX applications.
Test World (Finland)
Test World run the largest cold winter test facility in Finland,
and is used by vehicle manufacturer's and tyre companies from around
the world. Test World carry out thousands of tests each year for various
manufacturer's testing tyre's and braking systems. Test World have three
VBOX's which they use on a daily basis.
The nature of cold weather testing presents a number of unique problems.
Optical and microwave sensors struggle to operate in such harsh conditions,
and fifth wheels slide on the slippery surface.
GPS sensors are ideally suited for such testing, as the only external fitting required
is the aerial which can be mounted on the roof.
One of the applications in which Test World wanted to use the VBOX
is when they run a large number of back to back braking tests (often
over 500 per day!). They required a quick and convenient method of measuring
the braking distance, and the braking time between two speeds.
Once they had satisfied themselves that the VBOX would give accurate and dependable
results, we worked with them to modify the software to suit their specific
needs.
The way Test World carry out their brake tests is to carry a laptop
in the car to give an instant readout of the braking distances and times.
They mount the LED speed readout display on the dashboard to allow the
driver to attain the starting speed of the test.
They then carry out a large number of brake stops, with the VBOX software automatically
recording the braking distance, the MFDD, and the time between two speeds
for each stop. This is continuously saved in a text file, which can
then be quickly imported in Excel to produce a table of results to include
in a report.
(website http://www.testworld.fi/)
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Power Techniques Magazine
Power Techniques magazine is a very popular Greek motoring magazine
with a reputation for high quality and accurate test results. The content
of the magazine is strongly technical, with in depth articles on engine
and suspension technology alongside detailed road / dynamometer testing
of different vehicles.
Traditionally, Power Techniques used a rotary wheel speed sensor
which attached to the outside of a wheel and calibrated this over a
known distance.
Power Techniques test all kinds of vehicles, from Dragsters to Jet
skis, and required a piece of test equipment that was quick and easy
to fit.
Costas Papatriantafliou the proprietor of the magazine says "I have
tried a number of ways of obtaining accurate results over the years,
and not until I used the VBOX was I satisfied."
"..not only
does it give me accurate results, but we can fit the system in seconds."
Power Techniques use the VBOX to produce all of their acceleration
and braking figures, and also use the VBOX to analyse the circuit performance
of various cars.
They have mapped all of the Greek race circuits, taking the VBOX
around the outside and the inside of each circuit. They then overlay
the driving line on top of the circuit outline to produce an analysis
of each driver/car combination.
In a recent article, they put the VBOX on a fast power boat to analyse
the performance. Surprisingly the boat managed a top speed of 102.4
km/h, and managed to pull almost 2g in a turn.
On another occasion they fitted the VBOX to a Jet powered dragster.
They recorded 0-60 in 1.1s whilst pulling 2.5g, a top speed of 430.8
km/h, and when the parachute was deployed, there was a deceleration
of over 6g !
It is interesting features such as these which have helped to make Power Techniques magazine
one of the best selling motoring magazines in Greece.
(website http://www.powermag.gr/)
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QinetiQ
QinetiQ is a new science and technology company formed from the major part of DERA,
the British Government's elite defence research and development organisation.
QinetiQ use the VBOX for performance testing of military vehicles, and find it especially
useful in very rough terrain where microwave and optical speed sensors
cannot operate.
(website http://www.qinetiq.com/)
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MIRA
MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) are based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire and
are a leading independant provider of engineering development and research
services to the worldwide automotive industry.
MIRA use a number of VBOXs to carry out brake testing on
their own test track
facility for many large automotive manufacturers. They have various
types of dry and wet surfaces with varying levels of grip, and find
that the VBOX is the only technology which works consistently in all
conditions.
Previously, MIRA had used fifth wheels, Radar sensors, Microwave sensors and optical
sensors, but have now almost replaced all of these with VBOX systems.
(website http://www.mira.co.uk/)
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Top Gear
When the producers of the new Top Gear program wanted to show live
data from a number of different cars during a tight schedule, they approached
Racelogic. They had heard about the VBOX, and wanted to use this to
produce data for a screen overlay for the new series.
The VBOX
is now used to collect all of their data, and a special application
written by Racelogic overlays this data onto various in-car and trackside
camera feeds.
Every show will include a lap of the circuit driven by various drivers,
including a number of different celebrities, and the Speed, G-force,
circuit position, Lap time and split times are all overlaid in real
time.
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A standard
VBOX II is used for this purpose, with the data being stored to a compact
flash card as the car is driven around their circuit. This data is then
loaded into the software we wrote for Top Gear, and then replayed on
a green background, which is then chroma-keyed onto the video footage.
Top Gear appears on BBC2 on Sundays at 8pm.
The VBOX has also been used in other features on the program, for example, all
top speed testing is done using the VBOX and our telemetry link, transmitting
the current speed of the car to our large outside LED display.
This arrangement can also be hired out by the day, allowing an accurate and easy method
of relaying the speed/acceleration/g-force/lap time/ 0-60 etc. of the
vehicle to an audience or a static camera.
We can also produce customised video data overlays for many sports.
Click here to download a video of the VBOX
in action on TV (mpeg4 format - 4.5mbyte).
To find out more about hiring the equipment or producing custom video overlays,
please email here.
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Acceleration and Brake Run
Video
The video here is of a BMW attached with the VBOX and an in-car camera.
The vehicle accelerates over 60 mph then a full ABS stop is carried
out.
The longitudinal acceleration is shown on the cross hair in the middle of the screen,
with the vehicle's speed on the right.
By studying the video, you can see that the G-force quickly drops off between gearchanges,
and varies as the ABS cycles.
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Click image to download the video
(4Mbyte DiVX avi)
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Raw data
This is the raw data that was created during the test. The native format
of the data is ASCII allowing easy export and analysis with Excel, Matlab
etc.
To download
this data, right click the image on the right, and click "Save link
as".
The "bmw-data.vbo"
file can be imported into Excel as a "space delimited" text file, or
viewed using the free VBOX demo software which is available from the
downloads page.
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Click image to download data file
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Graph Data
The graph on the right shows the data taken by the VBOX during this test.
The vehicle speed is in red, and the longitudinal acceleration is in blue.
You can see the gearchange as the acceleration drops, then peaks in the middle of
the run. The acceleration can also be seen gently tailing off in second
gear, as the engine goes over its peak torque.
The ABS stop can then be seen as the acceleration varies as the ABS cycles to prevent
skidding.
To view a larger version of this graph, click the image on the right.
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Click image to enlarge
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Table Data
The table on the right shows the compound Time table. This is a matrix of
the acceleration run (right hand side of the table) and the brake stop
(left hand side of the table). The units and increments for this table
can be changed, and the results are instantly recalculated.
As an example, you can see the 0-100kmh time is 5.65s, and the 100kmh -0 time is 2.85s.
To view a larger version of this graph, click the image on the right.
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Click image to enlarge
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There is a number of other different analysis screen you can use, some much
simpler, and some much more configurable, depending on the tests you
want to carry out. The example above is just one of these.
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