Sep 02, 2011Thanks to RFID tags affixed to racecars, as well as readers and sound-measuring equipment located along the racecourse, the Nürburgring Motorsport Complex, in Nürburg, Germany, is monitoring the noise level of every car's engine.
Although European racecar drivers and their fans may enjoy a sport that involves driving along a winding course through forests and near villages, the noise produced by the vehicles is not as popular with those living in the vicinity of the course. For that reason, sound emanating from the cars is regulated by race organizers, in order to ensure that no racecar creates more than the approved level of noise.
Race organizers at Nürburgring have employed a variety of methods for controlling the cars' noise levels. The most recent method consisted of using a microphone, as well as existing induction loops (installed at the finish line, for measuring racing times) that detect each vehicle's time-keeping transponder as it passes over that line. Although that solution helped measure sound levels at the end of the race (while also providing racers with timing information pertaining to when each vehicle crossed the finish line), it could not measure sound levels throughout the length of the racecourse, nor did it automatically link a sound measurement with a specific vehicle.
To resolve that problem, racecars at the Nürburgring Motorsport Complex now utilize a system that includes RFID technology provided by Identec Solutions. With readers stationed at key locations along the course, as well as with microphones, and with RFID tags attached to each vehicle, the complex can automatically monitor each vehicle's sound level at numerous points throughout a race. The solution is being provided by noise-engineering firm BeSB GmbH, located in Berlin, using hardware and software from Identec Solutions. BeSB utilized the technology that would measure sound along the course, which spans 20 kilometers (12.4 miles).
The Nürburgring, which opened in 1927 and is one of the oldest racing circuits in the world, was built before any noise regulations were put in place. At present, the complex is divided into two sections: the modern Grand-Prix (GP) circuit, where major racing events such as the Formula 1 World Championship races take place; and the historic Nordschleife (North Loop), primarily used for endurance races, automotive industry testing and tourist driving. The North Loop is the area in which noise is of concern.
In 2009, BeSB began developing an improved noise-control solution that could cover the length of the Nordschleife course, and that could be mobile—noise-level measurements could be taken at one location at one race, and the system could then be moved to another location at another time. "For a number of reasons," Knobloch says, "we were becoming more independent from timekeeping technologies, so we invited Identec Solutions to the Nürburgring to perform a test, in order to see if their RFID tags would work in a racecar."
According to Knobloch, BeSB tested five or six readers as part of Identec's SensorSMART Platform, which forwards data culled from Identec iPort MB readers. Meanwhile, BeSB software links the RFID data with noise measurements taken at the time that the tag was read.
Identec's i-B2L active ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags are attached to a variety of locations on the vehicle, according to Herbert Hohmann, Identec Solutions' VP of sales EMEA, depending on the car's size and style. An ID number is connected to that particular vehicle and its driver in BeSB's software, he says.
A computer controls the measurement stations located near the racecourse, Knobloch says. Each measurement station is equipped with a digital sound-level meter, as well as an Identec RFID reader. The entire system transmits information via a cellular Internet connection.
The reader captures the unique ID number encoded to the tag of each passing vehicle, and forwards that data to the BeSB software, residing on a server hosted by BeSB. There, the RFID data is linked with sound measurements. If a measurement exceeds the acceptable decibel level, an alert in the form of an e-mail or text message can be sent to the race's management team, indicating which vehicle was too loud, and providing its sound measurement. Moreover, management can monitor vehicles' decibel levels on the secure Web site while the race is underway.
The readers are designed to be mobile, enabling organizers to move the readers and sound sensors periodically, in order to ensure that drivers can not predict their locations along the racecourse. The purpose of this mobility, Hohmann explains, is to prevent race participants from anticipating where the reader and sensor will be situated, so as to temporarily ease up on the accelerator and thus reduce sound emission while passing them. The tags are also being used on vehicles to test the wear of new tires for tire manufacturers.
Piloting the system commenced last year, and continued throughout the racing season, beginning in April, on all cars except for Formula 1 vehicles—which race on the smaller GP course. The test was a success, Knobloch says, noting, "The major advantage of RFID is that it provides total freedom of choice, at what point of the circuit we carry out noise measurements, because we use a mobile RFID antenna." The greatest challenges, Hohmann indicates, involved ensuring that the tags could be read at high speed and withstand a racecar's strong vibrations. The tags, he says, proved to be readable even after heavy usage.
Based on the pilot results, the system has been permanently installed along the course. Currently, every car on the circuit is equipped with an Identec IB2L UHF RFID tag, with approximately 2,500 tags provided to date for that purpose.
BeSB is now looking into other applications for the technology as well. "We're thinking of features for managing track access," Knobloch states, by using readers to determine when a tagged car arrived. "If you can locate a car," he says, "you can also tell if it's not running anymore—for example, because of an accident. That could possibly be a part of a future track-safety application."
