Global Research
industrial internet in action
GE big data –
drives Caterham F1 Team faster
GE Global Research, the company’s
central technology development
arm with its European Centre
based in Munich, has been helping
Caterham F1 Team to apply various
aspects of GE technology to
improve its performance in F1 since
2011. Particular areas of research
focus include: High temperature
composites and advanced
aerodynamics – both combine
to make the team’s car go faster
while improving reliability – two prerequisites for success on the racing
circuit.
GE is able to assist Caterham F1
Team in these areas because of
its strength and expertise in the
aviation sector, which has direct
relevance to the world of motor
sport. The same technology that is
used to keep aeroplanes in the air
is used to keep F1 cars glued to the
track.
gemindsandmachines.eu
Perhaps a less obvious form of
collaboration is in the generation,
collection and analysis of the vast
amounts of data produced by a
Formula 1 car. There are over 150
sensors on a F1 car that are capable
of streaming over 800 channels of
data live and creating 20Gb of data
per car per race weekend. One way
for Caterham F1 Team to maximise
the performance of its cars overall,
is to track and understand how they
are performing as conditions unfold
during a race. The team can gain
a clear advantage if it can do this
quicker and more accurately than
rival teams.
developed by GE have the potential
to cut the time for advanced data
processing by more than half, an
obvious possible advantage for
Caterham F1 Team. Thanks to GE
technology, rather than manually
comparing data during a race, the
team will be able to automatically
track data between drivers, across
different events and across the
season, cutting some key analytical
processes from hours to minutes.
The conclusions drawn from the
8 continues over
below: Aviation sector technology plays a
large part in the world of motorsport
As part of its Industrial Internet
vision, GE is developing algorithms
that are capable of analysing
enormous quantities of data
produced by its smart machines
such as jet engines and wind
turbines. The analytics being
© 2013 General Electric Company – All Rights Reserved
analysis are only as good as the
data collected, and this is another
area that GE and Caterham F1
Team are working together on.
Through its expertise in sensors,
GE is researching how the
aerodynamics of the team’s F1
race cars, and more specifically
the efficiency of the car’s frontwing, (that helps to keep the
car’s four wheels on the track at
all times), can be improved. By
analysing the results, GE will be
able to make recommendations
for improvements to increase
downforce and lessen drag that
could make all the difference in the
performance of the F1 team.
As Mark Smith, Caterham F1 Team
Technical Director, notes:
“The capabilities in big data
analytics provided by GE open
up an array of possibilities for
Caterham F1 Team to improve the
performance of our cars. In Formula
1 racing an improvement of as
gemindsandmachines.eu
little as one hundredth of a second
can make all the difference in the
battles on track, so having access
to GE’s technology offers real
potential to help us strengthen our
competitive edge.”
For GE, Formula 1 provides its
researchers with one of the most
dynamic and challenging testing
grounds for new technologies
and techniques. As Carlos Haertel,
Managing Director of the GE Global
Research Centre in Munich says:
“Formula 1 is a virtual laboratory
on wheels. What we are learning
through our collaboration with
Caterham F1 Team has applications
right across our Industrial Internet
offering, providing learnings that
will help us design more efficient jet
engines and more accurate Oil and
Gas sensing systems. “
charged engines, there is a whole
new set of technical challenges
looming on the horizon. For GE
and Caterham F1 Team this will
present a world of possibility with
even greater opportunities to take
advantage of the power of big data
analysis.
Todd Alhart
Communications
GE Global Research
T +1 518 387 7914
E [email protected]
Tom Webb
Head of Communications
Caterham F1 Team
T +44 (0)7581 208504
E [email protected]
With Formula 1 rule changes
coming into force in 2014 which
specify the use of new turbo-
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