whooo whooo F1 is on!! now questions

[9dreizig]

Ok , just finished working on putting my cage and new interior in, came in and showered was going to go out and celebrate St Paddy's day,, but then my cable reminded me that F1 was on. Sooo was watching the pre race stuff and they went into the ECU,,, guess everyone is using the same one ,, so here's my question,, does it control all the engine stuff as well as brakes , traction control etc. ??? How does that work ? Do they give these guys some parameters they can change? Can't imagine everyone has the same cpu running their engine management stuff ??
T

[Flatbutt1]

I'm not sure about all of its functions but there is no traction or launch control this year.

[Joeaksa]

Everyone has the same style and model of "black box" now that controls the engine and various other items on the car. That way no one can write some computer code that is hidden somewhere that gives that teams car some sort of traction or launch control while the others do not have it.

The boxes are made by McLaren and are all the same, and are sealed and inspected at various times by Charlie Whiting. Doing anything with the box other than swapping it out with a replacement unit is grounds for taking several weekends off...

[9dreizig]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Everyone has the same style and model of "black box" now that controls the engine and various other items on the car. That way no one can write some computer code that is hidden somewhere that gives that teams car some sort of traction or launch control while the others do not have it.

The boxes are made by McLaren and are all the same, and are sealed and inspected at various times by Charlie Whiting. Doing anything with the box other than swapping it out with a replacement unit is grounds for taking several weekends off...

So even though they are running different engines they have the same control?? What do they do about timing , mixter etc ??

[Jims5543]

I believe they can still tune their engines to their liking they just cannot mess with traction control and other aids.

I am sure Whiting takes a look at them prior to and after races. He already uncovered that the teams had discovered a hack by pushing a series of buttons in a certain order to bypass some features.

From Axis of oversteer a month or so ago:

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Stealing the Start.

Imagine that, the Microsoft powered, Mclaren built computers that all Formula 1 teams will be running this year have a bug...
This bug allowed team to circumvent the control software and in effect implement a "launch control" outlawed by the 2008 regulations.

I'll translate and paraphrase excerpts from an article in this week's Autosprint,


Five weeks to the start of the championship and we have the first electronics case. The issue is related to the starts: the Mclaren supplied electronic control unit used by all teams has a bug. To explain in a simplified manner: the new units allow control over a set number of vehicle parameters though a more limited amount than in the past. To counter the absence of traction control, all teams worked on regulating engine mapping and torque to the wheels. The knobs you see on Ferrari (and other teams) steering wheels are used to choose these different engine maps.

As part of the new regulations and to avoid extreme settings that would in effect allow for robot starts, the Mclaren Electronic System is set up so that whatever setting you chose for the start would stay locked until the car crossed the start finish line after one lap. Choose a map that allowed for a quick start and you might be penalized on the fast turns for the rest of the first lap.

It did not take long however for teams to discover that if three control buttons are pressed in a specific sequence the computer would give up its electronic protection. In other words the computer could not prevent the driver from changing settings right after a start. This would explain some of the lightning starts seen in testing and Jarno Trulli's remarks on traction control and start assist. If a team could use a map which would assist the start and then quickly switch to a "speed" map well, in effect, you would have a form of electronic aid.

The FIA, once this was brought to their attention recognized there was a defect in the software and will introduce a fix, but insiders ask how many more bugs might still be in the spec. computers. Once again we face the prospect of the winner being the most clever rather than the best driver, but at least this time it's not the teams that are at fault.