The chequered flag fell last night on the 26th annual Autosport International – Europe’s largest motorsport and performance car show held at the NEC in Birmingham, England.
The show warmed up with 2 dedicated trade days; ‘Autosport Engineering’ hosting 200 exhibitors, ostensibly influencing £1bn worth of business from 27,000 trade visitors including 5,000 overseas motorsport, automotive and advanced industry professionals.
Co-located alongside the Performance Car Show and featuring high octane thrills in the Live Action Arena, visitors gathered to catch up on the latest tech for 2016.
There was the usual buzz around wheels, fuel additives, braking systems, tool making and mechanical engineering in general. There was even an award for ME. Alas, not for EE. Maybe next year!
In terms of electrical engineering tech, Bosch Motorsport and McLaren Applied Technologies clearly maintain their positions on the rostrum and amongst the high echelons of those attending.
Bosch Motorsport being the sole supplier of electrical and electronic components for Formula 3, the U.S. Grand Am racing series and many Le Mans 24-hr race teams, they showcased their low cost fully integrated, programmable and tuneable ECU engine management system, built in conjunction with and for some pro teams.
McLaren Applied Technologies with their Standard ECU for Formula 1 and Standard ECU for NASCAR, Electro Mechanical design and both bespoke and off-the-shelf alternator production for all World Rally Car teams and some NASCAR, World Rally Cross, World Endurance Racing and GT teams.
Other innovators lining up on the show’s 2016 season grid include:
DC Electronics wiring harnesses and electric power assisted steering. New for 2016, they showcased their Pro Race and Pro Street Electric Power Assisted Steering systems. Since 1997, they’ve been one of the markets leading manufacturers of custom built electrical systems and they claim to be able to build ES’ for any type of vehicle and they currently supply to F1, Indy Car, WEC, United Sportscar, NHRA, NASCAR, F1 Powerboats, FIA World Rally and Rallycross.
DCE are also the official sponsor of the amazing Bloodhound Project team who aim to create a land speed record car capable of 1,000mph and inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists.
DTA Fast design and manufacture engine management systems for spark ignition engines in club to professional competition vehicles across motorsport, including motorcycling, jetski and snowmobile racing. Usually on a modern engine the existing crankshaft and other sensors can be reused, but where this cannot be done, they provide a full range of temperature sensors, crankshaft sensors and wheels, and pressure sensors.
DiM Sport showcasing a vast array of ECU tuning solutions, add-on modules and dynamometers and road simulators.
MoTec engine management, data acquisition systems and power distribution systems launched a lot in 2015, but are set to keep pace with last year’s record with tonnes of new tech - from the smallest steering wheel display to the largest model on the market - MoTeC has the widest range of motorsport colour displays available, and some of the best customisation software. New features keep coming – ask about USB Logging and Camera Inputs that can turn your display into a live video screen. With the design brief to produce the best steering wheel display on the market, MoTeC has thought of everything. This CAN controlled display has 8 dial inputs and 6 button inputs on the board. Plus, they’ve launched 3.5 inch, 5 inch and 7 inch colour displays, SMS Receive functionality, a new integrated Steering Wheel with a built in Paddle system, high quality buttons, nicely designed dials, and a pro quick release system.
On top of all this booty, MoTeC are currently working on a new software application to allow the ability for the Race Control director to send messages to the car via the car telemetry system to act as warnings and alerts for the driver. If there is sufficient coverage the flag marshals (those guys and gals in oranges!) will be able to send flag statuses to race control via a tablet or mobile phone connected to a mobile or wireless network. Race control is then able to alert the cars to the flag statuses. Also teams will be able to create alarms in the dash based on the channels sent to the car from the race control software to display to the driver and send back to the team in pit lane for their own warning.
TE Connectivity is of course a giant in our ecosystem, but deservedly so. Their innovations are endless and their thought leadership papers on automotive are worth the read – from performance car, truck, bus and off-road applications. They are committed to the miniaturization of the total connector package and delivering the connected car to the world – so check them out in our online store. They typically release new products every month!
Kulite is perhaps already the number one on anyone’s lips who’s looking for pressure miniature and ultra-miniature pressure transducers, and the 3 core product categories of Test Transducers, Process Control Transducers and Automotive Control Transducers are already widely used in Formula One Indy car racing. They now have new semis for use in Air Bag Testing, Power Steering Systems, Anti-Lock Braking Systems and Fuel System Testing.
Ole Buhl Racing already known for picking up the odd Race Tech accolade, they broke the silence on their all new Brake-O-Meter brake balance bar with precise brake bias adjustment dial - The Knob with a Brain (as they call it) – launched at the show.
PIAA high performance lights, bulbs & HiD Systems are built for the most severe/foggiest conditions – popular on the WRC circuit. Their lamps create a light source that is produced by a stabilized arc that burns at a much higher color temperature which creates a whiter light output than a standard halogen bulb. The Dichroic lamp tech employed allows heat to dissipate away from the bulb that in turn increases bulb life.
Stanford Marsh are expanding their market reach in to automotive launching their Stratasys 3D printer and Autodesk Software solutions for the automotive carbon-fibre layups or end-user parts. Due to the popularity of 3D printing to element14 members, I thought this was worth a mention.
Each of the product categories listed deserve their own blog and they are welcome to come and join the conversation. In the mean time, please feel free to drive the conversation on these and indeed any area of performance automotive tech – we know you love it!
PS – there were a lot of exhibitors at the show, but not everyone was shouting about new tech. If any exhibitors want to tell us about their 2016 must-sees, please add your products in the comments to this blog.
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