F1 Steering Wheel electrical connections

[Rhino]

I'm quite intrigued about something to do with modern F1 Steering wheels. There is a multitude of buttons, lights, screens on today's F1 steering wheels, but how are they connected electrically with the car? We see steering wheels "clipped" onto the cars, and popped off when drivers want to get out of the car. Does anyone know how the electrical connection is made from the steering wheel to the car? Could it possibly be a radio connection, or is there some type of ring(s) on the steering wheel shaft with brushes making contact from the stationary chassis side?

If anybody could shed some light on this it would be greatly appreciated!

[Jersey Tom]

Couple ways of doing it on motorsport steering wheels I've seen.

Easy way is to just have a coiled cable that plugs into both the side / back of the wheel, and to the chassis.

The 'cleaner' way is to just have an electrical pass-thru on the quick-release hub. The spline makes sure all the pins are lined up correctly when you slide the thing on.

[spacer]

Take into account that you basically only need two terminals (which makes things quite simple). Both the power supply as well as a variety of data channels can run through those two lines (for examples, you could take a look at Profibus-PA systems).

[Rhino]

Thanks for the replies. Serial communication makes sense and keeps things very simple.

[Edis]

Thanks for the replies. Serial communication makes sense and keeps things very simple.

SECU use CAN links for in car communication. Then various sensors are connected through Sensor Interface Units (SIU), Sensor Nodes (SN), CAN Interface Units (CIN), Hub Interface Units (HIU) and so on which relay the communication to the main control unit through the CAN bus.

[speedsense]

Take into account that you basically only need two terminals (which makes things quite simple). Both the power supply as well as a variety of data channels can run through those two lines (for examples, you could take a look at Profibus-PA systems).

The only problem with this is that the dash has data inputs (read to the display), controller switch out puts, and ECU outputs to change mapping selections. Need more than two pins to do this.

Almost all F1 dashes uses electrical connectors built into the quick release with 8 pins and up....like this one

http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tpc=S ... on=product

[Edis]

Take into account that you basically only need two terminals (which makes things quite simple). Both the power supply as well as a variety of data channels can run through those two lines (for examples, you could take a look at Profibus-PA systems).

The only problem with this is that the dash has data inputs (read to the display), controller switch out puts, and ECU outputs to change mapping selections. Need more than two pins to do this.

Almost all F1 dashes uses electrical connectors built into the quick release with 8 pins and up....like this one

http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tpc=S ... on=product

You can use an interface unit to convert these signals to bus communication, then you can do it with as little as four wires. Two for power and two for the CAN bus.

There is usually a built in mil-spec connector in the steering column, yes.

The dash, a McLaren PCU-6D, is in some cases built into the monocoque and in other cases built into the steering wheel.

[speedsense]

Take into account that you basically only need two terminals (which makes things quite simple). Both the power supply as well as a variety of data channels can run through those two lines (for examples, you could take a look at Profibus-PA systems).

The only problem with this is that the dash has data inputs (read to the display), controller switch out puts, and ECU outputs to change mapping selections. Need more than two pins to do this.

Almost all F1 dashes uses electrical connectors built into the quick release with 8 pins and up....like this one

http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tpc=S ... on=product

You can use an interface unit to convert these signals to bus communication, then you can do it with as little as four wires. Two for power and two for the CAN bus.

There is usually a built in mil-spec connector in the steering column, yes.

The dash, a McLaren PCU-6D, is in some cases built into the monocoque and in other cases built into the steering wheel.

Yet to see anything less than an eight pin connector. CAN included. Too many things that require priority to get "packaged" into a CAN queue. The shifter paddles sensors being one of them, for example.

[Caito]

If they're using multiplexing two wires would be enough.

[hardingfv32]

Maybe there is some pin usage redundancies. It is a very active connector and probably has a small amount of movement when engaged.

Brian

[pitlaneimmigrant]

Edis has it right (or should I say ´had´ this is an OLD thread). The switches and paddle inputs are all passed to the ECU over CAN. The display is controlled either by a serial interface or CAN depending on the display type (the older 6C unit uses serial)

See

http://www.mclarenelectronics.com/Produ ... uct/PCU-6D

and

http://www.mclarenelectronics.com/Produ ... ct/SIU-300

As for the connectors, Souriau, in particular the 8STA -518 range, are pretty much standard for steering wheels

[hardingfv32]

The 8STA -518 does not look like it has pins and sockets, just pads. Is this a correct observation. I have never seen such a connector before in the defense industry. Could this be a special application type plug?

Brian

[pitlaneimmigrant]

Take a look at http://www.souriau.com/motorsport/repos ... System.pdf, I can assure you they are used in F1.

This style of connector is based on other Souriau/Deutsch motorsport connectors which in turn are based on Mil-Spec systems such as MIL-DTL-D38999, but in this instance are a special application (removable steering wheels probably don´t get used a lot outside of motorsport)

The pictures in the brochure don´t show the pins in the connectors which makes it look they they have pads, but the connector half which goes in the wheel would be populated with pins

[Agerasia]

Usually two copper contacts or "slip rings". One being ground the other being usually 12v.
Data is passed through the DC lines digitally. They'll probably eventually become radio connected, if not already

[pitlaneimmigrant]

I´m not sure that I can see the benefit of using slip rings with a steering wheel as the steering wheel is only rotating +/- 180 degrees, has low power and low bandwidth requirements, as well as the current connector systems providing a light weight, robust and proven solution. Not to mention that the steering wheel isn´t rotating relative to the steering column so the slip ring would be providing a rotating connection between steering column and main harness .

Having had a quick read up on slip rings, they are certainly some clever pieces of kit, but I´m not sure I expect to see them on an F1 car.

Have you seen this used before in F1, or any motorsports category?