Traction Control
13 July 2009
M800 Traction Control Tables overview:
Do not copy the values.
14 April 2009
GPS Traction Control Analysis.
A mighty Tool for Analysis of Traction Control Settings via GPS / GPS logged Data.
The Motec BL1 GPS is excellent, and helps a lot, not only in Analysis of TC, also regarding Detection of Fuel-Setting-Problems/Throttle response, and so on.
27 July 2008
Typical Situation:
- Tyres not hot
- a couple of right hand corners before first left hand corner came, so moreless left corner the Tyre was cold.
Then it came first left hand corner , my buddy said he thought : " that it was..." ....
But then the TC came in, and nothing happened:
General
It is generally no real mystery how to build a good working TC .
You need a few Ingredients, as :
Wheelspeeds of front and rear Tire, with a high resolution (Samples/Turn)
Linear displacement Sensors for Shock and Fork, also to be able to calculate :
1st deviation of the Suspension Positions, the Velocities (mm/s)
Throttle Position , as a factor to calculate:
1st deviation of Throttle Position, so that's the Throttle Acceleration (%/s)
maybe Tire Temps, good for non Pro's who may start with hot Tires and come in with cold ones
maybe GPS , to readjust the TC for exceptional corners with special requirements
maybe lean angle sensor
and maybe something else which I've forgotten at present
Then put everything in a big Bottle and shake well.
A TC needs to be adjustable highly individual.
As everyone is fast only if he feels comfortable on the Bike, the Rider - and what he likes or dislike ( Level of Skills )- is the ruling Factor.
Some want to win, some just don't want fall down, some are familiar with sliding, some not.
It's a kinda simple Analysis, we sometimes do not even mention what has happened after, we just say: "....made too much throttle" .
So it's all about that "too much", all about just limiting the Power to a appropriate Level, balanced between Riders Skills and Needs and the capabilities of the Bike.
So the Theory is easy, bit more difficult the Practice.
Year 2007 I have had installed a very good working TC ( w/Motec M800 ) on my 999V2. I never have had so much fun on track as I had this year. After I got the TC working, and drove it the first 40 Minutes on track I realized that I never can go back - it was one of the strongest Drugs I ever came in contact with.
And I even have not installed every feature mentioned above, but this year I will try to integrate everything what I have mentioned - name it "refining" of theTC.
If you go for mathematically Calculations and maybe GPS to have Influence on TC you need a Device which is doing those Calculations, the M800 is not enough therefore. The best Solution I know is to go for a Motec ADL2 then, which is Dash/Logger and Calculator in one. There's a good communication then between M800 and ADL2 via Can Bus, and for extremely fast Operations you wire in and outputs directly. Through the capability of the ADL2 to log with 1000 samples per second on a lot of channels you're able to refine the TC up to your needs.
Security
Is there a chance to program a "deceleration parachute" in case a important TC Sensor Signal is
missing ?
A Traction Control is a sensitive thing, a lot of Sensors and Wires and Calculations are involved.
Once you're familiar with a working TC on your Bike you open throttle much faster than before .
That means : you've got faith into the System.
That means : a TC System failure could lead into the opposite you wanted, you'll high- or low side.
So what to do ?
It's about 2 different measurements to avoid a crash in case a Sensor or whatever does lead into a System Failure those both measurements you've to consider as a kind of Unit, as they belong together :
Instant Rider Information
Programmed Security Features
General Explanation:
If a chain of a System fails the Rider need to be informed instantly about that through the Dash + Warning light, with a exact Description of which Information is missing, so the rider then can decide himself, if this failure has a huge Partition inside the TC System.
Some different Information's the Rider may receive, just some Examples :
" Tire temp ERR "
" Rear wheel ERR "
" GPS Sign ERR "
" Susp Fr ERR "
" Susp Rr ERR "
Then the Rider is informed what Signal exactly is missing, and then it depends on the value which is set as default inside the tables in case of an sensor error. Depending on the Level of Skills and the Insight of the Rider into such a System the default values will be different, as some just want to win and some just don't want to fall down.
I have programmed some "deceleration parachutes" into my ADL Dashlogger, which is doing the main work of the TC Security features in case of Errors.
But within 8 Trackdays 2007 with a
total of 24 days on track I never had a lost Signal, but it is a good feeling, that something is working in the background which protects me in case of a TC Error.
That's just a kind of Introduction from March 20+21/2008 , more to come soon.