Title: Virtual selection of the optimal gear-set in a race car

Authors: Sergio M. Savaresi, Cristiano Spelta, Davide Ciotti, Marco Sofia, Enrico Rosignoli, Emiliano Bina

Addresses: Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy. ' Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy; Universita' degli Studi di Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5; 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy. ' Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy. ' FIAT Powertrain Technologies, viale Luraghi, 20020, Arese (MI), Italy. ' AIM-Sportline s.r.l., via Cavalcanti 8, 20063 Cernusco sul Naviglio (MI), Italy. ' AIM-Sportline s.r.l., via Cavalcanti 8, 20063 Cernusco sul Naviglio (MI), Italy

Abstract: The problem considered in this paper is the optimisation of the gear-set of a race car in a virtual (software) environment. This task has been split into three sub-tasks: first, the maximum achievable speed (as a function of the local curvature radius) in every position of the circuit has been computed; then, the lap-time has been computed with an innovative forward–backward integration procedure of a simple and numerically efficient dynamic simulator; finally, using the lap-time computation algorithm, the best gear-set is obtained by a multi-dimensional optimisation procedure. All the results have been developed and tested on real data, and the gear-set optimiser has been implemented in a complete and stand-alone software package.

Keywords: automotive systems; gear ratio; optimisation; dynamic simulation; race cars; virtual selection; optimal gear sets; gear selection; racing cars; motor sport.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVSMT.2008.020618

International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing, 2008 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.47 - 67

Published online: 03 Oct 2008 *

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