Data System Part 1

The data system for this car is something that I'm really forward to using.  I have taken a number of online data acquisition classes taught be John Block of Autoware (http://www.auto-ware.com/) and John really helped me understand the importance of data acquisition.  I have actually been able to use some of the things that I have learned when I am racing online on iRacing as well.  The AIM EV04 system has an internal three axis accelerometer which will give me longitudinal, lateral, and vertical g's.  It will also give me predictive lap times and has a GPS that can be used to draw track maps so that I can look at data at a specific point on the track.  It also has an ECU connection so a lot of the data I gather will come from the ECU.  Some of the data that will come from the ECU are rpm, throttle position, oil pressure, oil temperature, air/fuel ratio, and fuel pressure.  The data system also has a wheel speed input as well as 5 analog inputs.  I have actually expanded it so that I will have 9 analog inputs.  I plan on having 2 brake pressure sensors (front and rear), 4 shock sensors, a steering sensor, and maybe a fuel temp sensor.  I have also added a data hub to the system which the 4 channel expansion unit is plugged into but I also have an AIM camera (called a SmartyCam) that will plug into the data hub.  The video from the camera will have data overlayed over the picture -- this will be a great analytical tool.  Ok, now that I have explained most of it, the pic below shows the system.  The basic AIM EV04 unit is on the bottom left, the data hub is mounted above it, and the channel expansion unit is mounted on the right.

I have been (and will be) working on installing sensors in between working on the tail section.  I talked about this before but the car came with a steering sensor installed in the steering rack.  Here is a pic of that sensor installed.

I recently installed the brake pressure sensors, and figuring out where to put them was quite the challenge.  But first, I purchased a couple of brake pressure manifolds from Veracity Data.  These are really nice pieces and the brake fluid flows through them but there is a place for the sensor and there is also a bleeder valve at the top which will allow me to get rid of any air that may be stuck in the line there.  Here is one installed in the front bulkhead.

The thing that is missing from the picture above is the front sway bar and I really had to do some thinking and measuring in order to figure out that I could mount these in this area.  I actually bought a number of brake line fittings that I found out wouldn't work because they extended away from the manifold too far.  That is why I chose to go with the banjo bolt fitting on the left side of this manifold.  Here is a pic of both manifolds installed but the actual brake lines are not attached yet.  The left side manifold is for the front and the left and right front brake lines will attach to the tee fitting.  The rear brake line will attach to the 90 degree hose fitting that is attached to the right manifold.

And here they are with the sway bar mounted.