F1technical.net

Mercedes, to my knowledge is the first team to implement in-race front tyre temperature monitoring using two infra-red cameras mounted on the ends of the front wing. Using front wing mounted cameras to obtain live high quality images of the temperature distribution across the thread of the front tyres makes so much sense that I wonder why has it never been implemented before? And will we be seeing other teams quickly adopting it and making it the norm?

To me this is the next biggest thing in F1 innovation.

On the upper flap of the F1 W04's front wing at Silverstone, Mercedes have integrated a thermic sensor (red arrow) to monitor the car's tyres for the entirety of the weekend. Previously, the device was simply attached to the car with cables during the practice sessions before the team removed it for qualifying and the race.

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/ ... /1082.html

I saw it in FP2 and assumed it would be removed. Another thing they learned from the Pirelli test?

the cameras are nothing new. Been around for years. Leaving them on for the race maybe means they are using to due to all of the problems they are having with the tires. I wouldn't call it an innovation merely a band-aid

flynfrog wrote:the cameras are nothing new. Been around for years. Leaving them on for the race maybe means they are using to due to all of the problems they are having with the tires. I wouldn't call it an innovation merely a band-aid

Yeah i dont get it either, i mean is it heat camera or normal camera ? Cause i thought they alrdy had sensors for the tires, seeing as most enginners says tires to hot or cold etc during races.

It's a band aid in the same way people used to say McLaren were using band aids when they started running with flo-vis all over their car at most circuits whilst trying to sort out their aero issues a few years back.

Now teams do it all the time. Any additional data they can collect can be put to good use in optimising the car and improving correlation between their simulations and what happens on track. I wouldn't be surprised if this were a one off for Merc whilst they check out some of their theories and improvements, but equally I wouldn't be surprised if this became a new trend that they stick with for the rest of the season and that other teams start to copy.

It can't be much of a band aid when they had the fastest race car that weekend.

But they have sensors for heat, why add a heat camera i dont get it ...

Huntresa wrote:But they have sensors for heat, why add a heat camera i dont get it ...

The camera gives a picture of the temperature distribution. More data than one local temp. They probably can make use of the additional data.

Teams calculate tyre temperatures using pressure and temperature probes to say "LF is running at X bar and Y Kelvin" which would give you just one temperature for the whole tyre. Using a thermal imaging camera tells you where your tyre is hotter and where it is cooler so you can work out if you are running too much camber, too soft suspension etc etc. In an ideal world the whole tyre would be at one temperature: the ideal operating temperature of the tyre. A camera gives you more data and F1 teams love their data.

People were doing still IR images wayyy back when and video has been around for some years though pricey. Quick search found some stuff even on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX6u098OkX0

Huntresa wrote:

flynfrog wrote:the cameras are nothing new. Been around for years. Leaving them on for the race maybe means they are using to due to all of the problems they are having with the tires. I wouldn't call it an innovation merely a band-aid

Yeah i dont get it either, i mean is it heat camera or normal camera ? Cause i thought they alrdy had sensors for the tires, seeing as most enginners says tires to hot or cold etc during races.

On the FRONT WING.. being raced!
There must be an advancement in minituriasation and processing power to have this my friend. think very carefully about it.

I have used thermal imaging cameras to scan power lines and they are quite small indeed, but In Formula 1 have only seen them on the rear floor of the car in front the rear tyre..

Imagine the implications of having LIVE full thermal imaging on ALL FOUR tyres!!

What is a typical (in race) arrangement of IR temp sensors on the tires?

Does anyone know a supplier and price of one of these cameras?

n smikle wrote:
On the FRONT WING.. being raced!
There must be an advancement in minituriasation and processing power to have this my friend. think very carefully about it.

I have used thermal imaging cameras to scan power lines and they are quite small indeed, but In Formula 1 have only seen them on the rear floor of the car in front the rear tyre..

Imagine the implications of having LIVE full thermal imaging on ALL FOUR tyres!!

You could tell your car setup is wrong IN REAL TIME.

Once again nothing new. Iv'e seen them mounted in side pods to watch the front tires in testing too. The fact they left them on for the race just means they are really concerned about tire temps not that its some new magical idea. If the other teams thought it would buy them anything they would run them too.



2011



2006

Fluke makes some industrial ones. I am not sure they do the actual camera internals though.

Belatti wrote:Does anyone know a supplier and price of one of these cameras?

http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... w=previous



http://store.flir.com/cameras/cameras.asp