Tech Pumps the Adrenalin

Witnessing a live Formula One event is nothing like cricket. The energy and

exhilaration of the sport on one side, the passionate fan-following on the

other, and a common string of technology cutting through it. Motor Sports is a

world of its own, where inhuman speed is the basic credential, and making the

speed seem sensible to humans is the biggest challenge and essence of the sport.

A black and gold coloured entry tag hung around my neck for the next 48

hoursserial no 817, a barcode with a code CF: 100144936, with entry to the

Corporate Suite CS2. At least 75,000 motor sports enthusiasts throng the Sepang

International Circuit, a stones throw away from the Kuala Lumpur International

Airport. Here the only human interference is a uniformed gentleman holding up a

slick rain-proof barcode reader which records the ticket holders entry

andlocks his/her designated pavilion/stand area. He then ensures that there is

no duplication of the serial number and there is an accurate record of the

number of ticket holders in each seating areafor reference purposes and for

easy evacuation in the case of an emergency. One simple technology, with more

than a handful of benefits.

A New Experience



One thing by which every racing enthusiast in his first race will be shaken

out of his nerves will be the decibel level of engine noise in the track. The

only way out is to stick rubber plugs into your ear. A giant multiplex-size

screen in front of every series of stands, with live camera feeds as the race

proceeds into areas that cannot be witnessed by the particular stand.There is

live update of temperature and humidity in the air and on the track (Malaysia on

race day was scorching at around 32 degrees with a humidity percentage of more

than 80%. The track temperature is invariably 5-7 degrees higher). Organizers

say that it takes a team of more than twenty with simultaneous feeds from an

equal number of hi-tech cameras inclusive of one mounted on a helicopter

circling the circuit, just for television coverage of the proceedings. This is

besides the ones installed on the racing vehicles that use wireless bandwidth to

connect to the central AV studio. All this is powered by an exclusive data

center featuring the most agile of blades.

The real technology can be seen inside the cockpit of the car, where need for messages to be received clearly becomes all the more critical

According to Formula One rules, throughout the Grand Prix weekends, all cars

must be fitted with two cameras or camera housings. The cameras are used to

provide on-board TV footage. The cars have a total of six camera mounting

points. One camera housing is always mounted on top of the air box immediately

behind the drivers head. The position of the second housing is chosen by the F1

association in consultation with the relevant team and driver.

Technology, the Enabler



The real technology however can be seen inside the cockpit of the car.

Effective communication is important in any working environmentbe it your

workplace or a racing track. What is different in a racing track is that the

environment itself moves at an average speed of 300km/h, between buildings,

trees, and landscape, fuelled and accompanied by a deafening scream of a racing

vehicle. Where need for messages to be received clearly becomes all the more

critical. The message could be from the driver to the car, the car to the driver

or the pit stop experts to the driver. In a classic example of messages having

gone wrong on an F1 track, Ayrton Senna at the 1984 British GP was stunned when

he heard bizarre messages in his earpiece. They were eventually traced to a

catering firm working in the vicinity in the race. Things have changed since

then. Today, McLaren Mercedes applies in advance for twenty-four independent

channels for every racetaking care of everything from car-to-pit radios, a

real-time weather radar system and separate channels for the marketing and

catering teams. Since regulations demand that airwaves must be shared by the

other teams, as well as local businesses, only narrow bandwidths are allocated.

The McLaren Mercedes car-to-pit radio has been developed in association with

Kenwood and runs off the cars power system. It is positioned under the knees of

the driver, who pushes a button on the steering wheel when he wants to transmit.

The signal is transmitted via the antenna on the cars nose to a mast mounted

either at the back of the pit facility or on one of the teams race

transporters. The car sends a VHF FM signal, but a repeater system, effectively

another transmitter attached to the pit receiver, converts it to a UHF FM

signal.

It takes a team of more then 20 different vantage angles with simultaneous feeds from an equal number of hi-tech cameras inclusive of one mounted on a helicopter circling the circuit; all just for television coverage of the proceedings

Closer to home, Force India F1 has deployed a permanent IT backbone with

companies that specialize in building infrastructure for the military. The

reason being that race tracks are equally challenging considering the heat,

humidity, dust and the sand. Circuit boards and cases should be designed in such

a way that they can cope with much higher ambient temperatures. The ones in the

Force India garage are also coated internally so that they can withstand the

carbon dust that is present in an F1 garage. Carbon, being very electrically

conductive, tends to damage electrical equipment. Force India has also deployed

a UPS system in an air conditioned environment. A UK-based firm, UPS Direct, has

designed this using a 19-inch, rack-mounted unit that contains a UPS in an

air-conditioned, sealed environment.

Voice communications solution for the team is provided by STL and Samsung.

While STL does all the maintenance and implementation, and Samsung provides the

actual equipment. At the race track, Force India used to book separate lines for

each event, comprising ISDN lines for all data transfers and five to six lines

for voice communications. Now, Force India runs on a VPN. Suddenly, instead of

issuing numbers that differ at every race, its the same number off the main

factory switchboard. The call is routed through the VPN over the Internet, with

the phone system in the Silverstone headquarters managing the calls. This means

the race could be in Bahrain but the cost of the call is only from the telephone

exchange in Silverstone to the final destination.

Formula One spells energy, a rush of adrenalin and a powerful surge of

emotionsof winning or losing, and of competitionall of it made easier for

human consumption, thanks to technology.

Vishnu Anand



maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in