| ATLAS F1 Volume 6, Issue 50 | |||
| Taking the Lid Off F1 Formula One Technical Analysis | |||
| by Will Gray, England | |||
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Last year, Atlas F1 ran a series of articles that investigated the technical areas involved in design, development, and construction of an F1 car. Now, a year later, Will Gray picks up where he left off, and dives deeper into the technical analysis of Formula One.
The main controls of a Formula One car, like any other car, are the accelerator, brake, clutch, gear changer, and steering wheel. The accelerator and brake are positioned in the normal manner (at the feet, with the accelerator on the right), and the cockpit is quite narrow in this area, as a requirement for the car's aerodynamics. As the clutch is operated elsewhere, current trends are for left foot braking, allowing the pedals to be separated by a larger distance and lessening the possibility of accidental operation. The throttle is operated on a fly-by-wire method, where the position of the pedal is related to a throttle butterfly position by computer. The computer can have a number of different 'engine maps', and a driver used to be able to select these with a button in the cockpit, although this is now banned by the FIA.
The clutch is hand operated, and exists as two paddles, on either side of the steering wheel, and the gear changer is also on the steering wheel in the form of two paddles, one on the right for an upchange, and one on the left for a downchange. The clutch is only used at the start, in the pits, or in a spin, as the gear change is 'semi-automatic' - meaning it requires driver input to change, but once told, it acts as an automatic gearbox. Naturally, more control is attainable from the hands, so moving the clutch to the wheel not only offers better control, but also allows more space in the footwell. The clutch paddles are stiff, and are larger than the gear paddles so they are easy to grab. They require a large deflection to operate the clutch (preventing accidental operation), but work in the same manner as a pedal.
Each side will individually operate the clutch if required (in a spin, for instance), but they are generally depressed together as it gives a more symmetrical grabbing pattern, and more control when letting the clutch off. However, in a spin, it is harder to pull the clutch paddle than it would be to stamp on a pedal, as the wheel will be at an awkward angle, and if there is any jolt, the hand could slip where a depressed foot may be more firm. With the use of gearchange paddles, a driver can keep his hands on the wheel at all times rather than dropping it down each time a gear change is required. This allows him to retain better control, especially when changing gear during a corner. Sequential stick changers (a gear stick which requires a push up or down to activate the semi-automatic gear change) have been tried, but only paddles allow the hands to remain on the wheel.
The steering wheel operates in the usual manner, and is assisted by power steering (which reduces the strength required by the driver to turn the wheel by supplying an additional assistance torque). This gives different levels of assistance depending on the amount the steering wheel is turned, and the car speed. The angle of the steering wheel is generally vertical (ninety degrees to the car's motion), but some drivers, notably Michael Schumacher, prefer the wheel to lean slightly away from them, as they believe it gives more control. However, this is not so good when turning as the crossing hands are more likely to clash.
The grip on the steering wheel is made by taking a mould from the driver's gloved hand, to again obtain a perfect fit. It is then covered with a suede like material which is not slippery if it gets wet. The other option for steering is the use of stick and side arm controls - a method tested in a Saab road car, but never by any F1 team. One significant advantage of the steering wheel is that it gives the driver good feedback from the road surface, and the difficulty in getting used to driving by stick is a major preventative factor.
Along with these are other controls, which are mostly buttons or switches. The controls which are important during the race are positioned on the wheel (again so that no hand movement from the wheel is required), and those which are used for set-up prior to the race are on the dashboard or on the sides of the cockpit. Although it may be deemed bad to have controls moving (on road cars, indicator stalks remain in a fixed position), a driver's hands will not move on the wheel so the controls remain fixed relative to the hands and are easier to reach at all times. The controls most normally seen on the steering wheel are listed below:
Pit Limit - Button: prevents speeding in the pit lane
Positioning controls is critical, and the most essential controls should be most accessible. The skip button is most used, followed by the pit, radio, and neutral controls, with the menu button only rarely operated. The controls generally seen on the dash are listed below:
Emergency off switch - large toggle (push down and hold for five seconds before activated)
The types of switches are important, and each is carefully selected for its specific job. There are four types generally in use. Push buttons are simple on/off buttons, whilst the two-way toggle switches, as seen on the steering wheel, give an indication of whether that operation is on or off, and allow prolonged use - the radio uses a toggle to allow long operation without having to hold down a button. The large toggle switches are like stalks and are easy to grab, operating only when pushed and held down, and the small 3-way toggle must be first pulled out to allow movement, preventing accidental knocking, as is rumoured to have occurred for Williams in the Canadian Grand Prix of 1991 when Nigel Mansell waved to the crowd to celebrate victory, knocked his ignition switch, and embarrassingly ground to a halt before completing the final lap!
Like the cockpit displays, cockpit controls are designed to enable the driver to operate all the functions with minimum disruption to his concentration. Control positioning is constantly reviewed, generally when a problem occurs, and what appears to be a simple design area can count for as many tenths of a second as any other.
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| Will Gray | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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