A Few of the Unique Sensors used in Formula 1
6 min readA Formula 1 car on average generates around 3 Terabytes of data in one race. It uses more than 300 sensors and radio communication to transfer data in real time to the pit wall, the factory, and the FIA [1]. These sensors must work flawlessly without any compromise as the performance of the car as well as the regulation of the rules depends on the data transmitted by these sensors. In this article, we glance at some of the most common and important sensors in an F1 car, studying their principles and applications.
- Pitot Tubes
Pitot tubes are most commonly found in aeroplanes where they are used as speedometers. In an F1 car, a pitot tube measures the speed of wind flowing over the top of the car. This measurement is affected by wind speed, wind direction, speed of the car, and the position of the Pitot Tube on the car. Engineers can use pitot tubes to understand if the movement of the air over the car resembles the simulation results. If it doesn’t, changes can be made to the car to get the desired aerodynamic balance. A pitot tube measures the dynamic pressure and compares it with the static pressure to give an output value.
2. Kiel Probes
A Kiel Probe is a variation of the Pitot Tube with a shroud around it to prevent inaccuracies from the yaw of the car. The shroud is provided to straighten the airflow and reduce error. Another advantage of Kiel Probes is that they require no calibration. It is used to measure the stagnation pressure. However, the shroud over it also means that the Kiel Probe cannot measure airflow angle.
One of the most common sights during an F1 practice session is the cars running with an array of these Kiel Probes as shown in the above picture. The array is formed by multiple Kiel Probes and the pressure sensor is mounted away from the array, downstream of the car. This allows a number of Kiel Probes to be installed in close proximity and form an array as described by Craig Scarborough in Reference 3.
The teams use data from these arrays and assess the air pressure around sensitive areas using CFD tools. During practice sessions, teams can either adjust the front wing angle or try an entirely new wing to change the airflow characteristics over the car and try to get as close as possible to the simulated values.
3. Heat Sensitive Stickers
Probably the simplest used in Formula 1. A heat-sensitive sticker is literally a sticker that the mechanics place at locations where it is tough to install another form of thermal sensor. The sticker reacts differently at different temperatures and has incremental indicators that change colour when a certain temperature is reached. When a car comes back to the pits, mechanics can look at the sticker and make a note of the maximum temperature reached at that part of the car. The sticker can then be removed and replaced if necessary.
In the above picture, McLaren has installed a few of these stickers on the brake drum to measure the surface temperature. When a car comes back to the pits, the mechanics and engineers look at the stickers and note down the temperature readings. If the temperature reading is too high, it indicates that not enough air is flowing into the brake ducts, and either the aerodynamic setup of the front wing has to be changed or the shape of the brake duct assembly has to be redesigned to allow better cooling. Conversely, if the temperature indication on the heat stickers is too low, the brake is not being used to its full potential and may have to be investigated.
4. Driver’s Gloves
Ironically, the most important sensor in Formula 1 is not a part of the car at all. These sensors are located in the driver’s gloves. When a driver goes through a crash, the immediate moments that follow are the most crucial to make sure that any harm is either prevented or mitigated as much as possible. So, it is imperative to know the vitals of the driver. The gloves of the drivers are fireproof and the palm of the gloves has sensors that are just 3mm in size sewn into the fabric itself. These sensors detect the heart rate and blood oxygen level among many other things. Data is transferred to the respective teams and the FIA Medical teams in real time to investigate the physical health of the drivers. Immediately after a crash, this data can be assessed to arrange the necessary requirements to treat the driver; wasting not even a single second. When Dr. Ian Roberts in the Medical Car leaves the pits to go to the crash site and assess the driver, he and his medical delegate have information about the driver’s vitals in real-time and can easily conjure up a plan to treat the driver.
Dr. Ian Robert has stated: “We know that the monitoring of people is essential in terms of their medical care and drivers in incidents are no different. We would like to start monitoring and assessing them as soon as we possibly can. There are also times when the driver isn’t immediately accessible to us, so if we can’t see him or we’re not actually next to him, there’s limited information that we can get.” [6]
Conclusion
Sensors play a vital role in Formula 1 as they are the feedback element of the car. The data gathered by the car’s sensors is studied in detail by the engineers and mechanics and then correlated to the simulated test runs. However, as mentioned before, an F1 car has over 300 sensors, and the ones covered in this article are just a few of them. Some of the lesser known sensors are:
- Ride Height Sensor: this uses a Laser and works on the Time Of Flight (ToF) principle and has an incredible response time of 900 microseconds
- Flow Vis Paint: Although technically not a sensor, it can be used to gather information about the air flowing around the car. It is a fluorescent powder mixed with oil (usually paraffin), to create a paint that is applied to the car. As the car is driven around the track, the paint moves with the air and dries quickly, leaving the impression created by the aerodynamics of the car.
- Fuel Flow Sensor: This sensor is vital to the FIA as it measures the flow of fuel into the engine. There are two of these sensors in each car, one is the sensor that the team installs in their car and the other is mandated by the FIA. The latter has an encrypted data transferring system which can only be accessed by the FIA to check for any discrepancies in the fuel flow.
As understood from the article, what makes a Formula 1 team run smoothly is the gathering of enormous amounts of data from hundreds of sensors and understanding how to read that data and compare it to simulations. Further, processing that data into practical solutions for the car and application of said solutions improves the performance of the car. This improvement in performance is then calculated by the same sensors and the cycle thus continues.
References:
[1] https://datacenterfrontier.com/how-cloud-data-crunching-power-accelerates-the-f1-racing-experience/
[3] https://twitter.com/scarbstech/status/1230423429435854848
[4] https://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-news/biometric-gloves-set-f1-debut-melbourne/
[5] https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/the-secret-of-f1-drivers-gloves-478c6f7c2e02
[6] https://www.cosworth.com/products/laser-ride-height-50-350mm-f
The following blog post has been written by Aamir Ghare. An Instrumentation Engineer deeply engaged in cars all his life. Aamir loves watching motorsport and hopes to be involved in it in the near future.
This post has been edited for grammar and other inconsistencies. To learn how you can contribute to content creation at Formula Bharat, visit www.formulabharat.com/careers.
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