F1 Cockpit Protection and Simulator device introduction of a ban on most on-track testing a few years ago forced Formula 1 teams to adopt new and innovative ways to develop their cars.Strapped in the cockpit of a 'virtual' car, any driver can now drive hundreds of laps around any circuit on the planet.
Essentially, an F1 simulator is made up of a chassis, or tub, attached to electromechanical actuators, controlled by powerful computers, which run the operating software and contain the computational models of the cars and the tracks.In response to input from the steering wheel and the pedals, the actuators move the entire cockpit around, which simulates the acceleration, braking and lateral forces that the driver feels.
The simulator is equipped with sensors that keep a record of every input of the driver. It is used by rookies to learn the new tracks, by the veterans to refresh their memory and, most importantly, to validate the set-up of the real F1 simulator cars.Sitting in the tub, the driver faces a curved, 180-degree projection screen. His hands hold the genuine steering wheel of the F-1 cars,which is connected to the main computer.
These computational models are based on the actual mechanical, dynamic and aerodynamic characteristics of the F-1.So we can alter many more things than we ever could on the real car.We can change the pressure and wear of the tyres, the aerodynamic downforce of the car, the engine characteristics and the ground clearance of the chassis, we can simulate the drafting effect from other cars.
Engineers also use the work done on the simulator to compare various settings. Does the car become twitchier with less downforce? How do the lap times compare?Various scenarios can be testedSimulator sessions are structured like real, on-track test sessions.
The driver starts with a few warm-up laps to get used to the distinctive environment of the simulator, especially if he hasn't been in it for some time.If it's a driver training session then he try to improve his
technique he will only do five or six laps at a time, and then we go over the recorded data and the engineer reviews these with his driver. F1 simulator