Calibrate With Your Data

Posted by rpifsae on January 19, 2012
Posted in: Drivetrain, Engine Calibration, Sponsor, Team Developments. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

After consulting with several local engine calibrators, one piece of advice was consistently offered:  “Use your data.” They all said it and re-said it.  Victor Chichester, from Chichester’s Tuning, and Howard Tanner, from Redline Motorsports, both suggested the engine team invest some time and money into upgrading their data acquisition methods on the Dyno.

O2 and MAP

As a result we purchased a four port analog input module from Dynojet.  This has allowed us to log: horse power, torque, MAP, O2, all versus RPM in WinPep7.  This one upgrade has greatly increased the efficiency of our calibrating efforts.  Logging this data simultaneously  during a transient run allows the operator to quickly interpret the information, and in turn put less wear on the vehicle and all our equipment.  The first two runs with the new dataq tools are shown above.  Below are some screen shots of the ECU software and WinPep7 control screen.

 

WinPep7

WinPep7

 

peMonitor

peMonitor

There is still much to improve but the team is making progress in a positive direction.

RPI FSAE & Redline Motorsports

Posted by rpifsae on January 19, 2012
Posted in: Engine Calibration, Sponsor, Team Developments. Tagged: , , , . 1 comment

When contacted by team member Xander Cesari, Mr. Tanner founder of Redline Motorsports agreed to help develop a solid foundation for engine calibrating within our race team.  Mr. Tanner has met with the students at Bumpstead garage on several occasions, each yielding more understanding of the modern combustion engine.

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Beyond his obvious talent for engine calibrating, Mr. Tanner is a good businessman and teacher.  The conversations quickly moved from basic calibrating techniques to what makes a successful team in industry and applying that to what makes an effective race team.  This web site is a direct result of meeting with Mr. Tanner, he expressed an urgent need for better media coverage of this extraordinary race team.  Mr. Tanner has been a great motivator for the team, he has encouraged the team  to deal with often overlooked aspects the team including: media coverage, team hierarchy and structure, and ease of  manufacturing.  We look forward to working with Reline Motorsports as the season progresses.  For more information on Mr. Tanner and Redline Motorsports check out his web site.

 

Chassis Update

Posted by rpifsae on January 16, 2012
Posted in: Chassis, Sponsor, Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Winter break continues to be a productive time for the team.  Chassis leader Stephen O’Grady successfully fit two of the structural carbon panels into the 2012 chassis this weekend.  The panels will not be bonded to the chassis until March 24th, because our new sponsor Powder Tech from Duanesburg, NY will need a bare chassis to powder coat the 2012 racecar.

Carbon Panels

Carbon Panels

2011 Motor Takes a Beating

Posted by rpifsae on January 7, 2012
Posted in: Engine Calibration, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 comment

This week the engine team disassembled the 2011 racecar motor due to significant engine knocking.  Many members had ideas as two what caused the  noise, but no one could have known the real root of the problem.  After a full tear down, some marring was seen on the top of cylinder one piston.  Likewise the head was damaged as the heads are softer than the pistons.   Below is a photo of the visible damage.

Piston Damage

Piston Damage

Head Damage

Head Damage

After careful inspection, the engine team found a connecting rod cap installed backwards.  As a result the connecting rod journal bearing was spun.   However minimal damage was done to the crank shaft and the engine internals.  Fresh journal bearings have been ordered and a lesson in engine building will take place early next week.  The CBR 600 F4i manual will be the instructor.

Engine Breakdown

Engine Breakdown

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave comments or questions.

Engine Calibrating

Posted by rpifsae on December 28, 2011
Posted in: Engine Calibration. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Students have returned after visiting family and friends during the Christmas holiday.  During the past two days attempts have been made to effectively trigger and log O2, MAP, TPS, Horse Power, and Torque.  Below a screen shot of HP and Torque vs RPM using WinPep7 (Top) and  O2 vs RPM using Innovate Log Works 2 (bottom).

The engine team has been attempting to obtain data using what resources are available at the shop to avoid the purchase of the Dynojet’s  analog module.  At this point the process is slow.  Students have agreed that all data needs to be recorded via one set of software to keep start/stop times consistent along with sampling rate.  WinPep7 is best suited for this type of data reduction.  The next step for the engine calibrating is to feed MAP, O2, TPS, into Dynojet’s WinPep7 software and plot these values for safe and efficient calibrating.