Team members:
- William Keogh
- Scott Pearse
- Justin O'Connell
- Scott Olson
- William Schreiner
The idea that we have for our project is a data monitoring and acquisition device for a racing motorcycle. The data will be collected from sensors attached to the cycle and sent via radio frequency between the cycle and a data acquisition box located in the racing pit area. The data to be collected will be the heat of the tires, the speed of the motorcycle tires and engine, the force that one is feeling on turns, the angle at which one is leaning while turning and suspension travel distance. A Global Positioning System (GPS) on the cycle is being considered to allow for captured data match up with position on the track. Selected pieces of captured data may also be displayed on the cycle for visibility to the cycle rider.
The absolute minimum we will accomplish in this project is the data acquisition of the heat of the tires and to transfer this data wirelessly. In order to detect the heat of the tires we will use some form of heat sensors, run this data through a micro controller, and then transmit the data wirelessly to the data acquisition box. The sensors we will initially research are optical thermometers that can acquire temperature accurately without any physical contact with the tire surface. Following this, additional sensors to be explored include accelerometers, speed (cycle and engine-RPM), bank angle, suspension movement and GPS system.