What
Every year the team gets a wheel force transducer from Michigan Scientific and runs it on the car. It replaces a normal wheel and measures the forces and moments going through that corner. We mount it in two positions, one at a time, front left and then rear left. With it on, the car runs a course and the kind of driving it would see in an endurance race, so the data reflects real use instead of estimates.
How
I was a core part of the testing team this year, and the transducer was my responsibility.
- Before each test day I made sure the car was ready and the transducer was attached correctly, since a badly mounted sensor gives you a full day of data you can't trust.
- Between positions I disassembled it and reassembled it when we moved it from the front left to the rear left.
- On course I kept it protected through the rough sections. The rock sections are exactly where we want data, and also exactly where an expensive instrument is most likely to get hit.
Outcome
We finished the runs at both corners and came away with wheel load data from endurance-style driving for the team's design work.
Next project: Rear Frame Damage Analysis →