[Dr_C]

Thanks Gary.

For anyone interested in what we are planning to test on 24th August, I hope the note below provides some additional clarity:

We plan to bring twelve NSR AMG GT3s with wireless decoders as per the Petronas livery’ed car shown earlier. These cars will strobe their IR LEDs on IDs 1 through 12. They use an extention of the SSD mark-to-space method i.e. extended out from 6 to 12 IDs. Waveform inversion is used to trigger lane changing which is fully compatible with standard SSD XLC electronics. On the 24th August they will be tested with O2 lane changer electronics on Ninco track.

The lap counting method follows the same approach as SSD with under-track phototransistors used to read the Cars’ IDs and then onward reported via USB to a PC running PC Lapcounter. This method has been proven to function on IDs 1 through 36 though PC Lapcounter itself is currently limited to 32 cars (which is more than plenty).

The cars are controlled by wireless throttles. Here we will bring a 12 car ‘cruise control’ panel which, effectively, is 12 separate wireless throttle controllers each with a rotary speed dial and all built onto a single panel. It’s a simple way to get 12 test cars running side-by-side. Next we can move onto twelve individual throttle controllers based on the ARC PRO throttle enclosures but with upgraded electronics. Here is where the skills of the drivers from the earlier GT4 event will come into play, please.

If all goes well we will then unpack some rather special newly designed controllers ;)

We already know that lap detection functions reliably. So the focus on 24th August will be around the wireless side of things. Here the approach is slightly different from existing in-market solutions. We are using multichannel frequency hopping and the signal path is:

Controllers-to-wirelessHub-to-inCarDecoders

i.e ALL wireless signals are routed via the wirelessHub.

This approach enables power level adjustment of the radio signal from the Hub to the cars to ensure adequate range in all circumstances. In the future we anticipate this approach will enable fast over-ride of throttle control signals commanded directly by the PC - this should be ideal for advanced simulations and variable speed pacers etc.

There will be lots of new hardware to test on 24th August, lots of questions to answer, and hopefully lots of fun to be had by all who choose to participate.

Meanwhile, the team behind this new digital system have lots of final preparations to make with just under 6 weeks to go. We are very busy bees!

Thanks for reading this update.

c