Track day data acquisition/display

[intercool]

So how is everyone monitoring their oil/water/DCT/etc temps during track day events?

The search feature on this forum is OK... I've seen posts about Carly but haven't seen live viewing of the data....

Any pics of how you set it up in the car would be helpful! Like where you mount display/type of display, etc...

Thanks!

[dogbone]

An AIM Solo DL can be tied directly into the CAN bus of the car. (They also have an OBD option that I've never tried.) The CAN bus streams quite a bit of live data. A single page on the AIM can be configured to display up to 4 live parameters of your choosing. The AIM can easily be suction cupped (RAM mount) to the windshield. I keep it off to the left side and as low as possible. Here's what it looks like these days.



I'm considering moving it over to the dash in the middle and getting it off the windshield. Sometimes I find that even where it is in that picture, that it obstructs my view into turns. (I sit fairly low in the race seat, so I look through the lower portion of the windshield.)

The bummer part about CAN bus data is that the raw data is usually disguised. BMW doesn't publish a list of CAN IDs along with the data clearly marked. No.....it's buried as some arbitrary ID number in some unknown unit with some unknown data offset. Companies like AIM rely on outside help to provide them with info that can identify particular parameters amongst the mess of data so they can translate it into a gauge that can be shown on a screen.

DCT temps are a good example. The M3 definitely tracks DCT temps. The Awron gauge is able to track DCT temps. (Sadly, the Awron cannot log data....only shows it in realtime....) But no one else has figured out what CAN ID it is and what the Identifiers and Offsets are. So, the AIM Solo currently can't track DCT temps from the CAN bus. (I put in an analog Stack gauge to see DCT temps live. You can see the round blue gauge in the video.) I talked to AIM and they said that if someone could tell them the ID, units and offsets for the DCT temps parameter, they could easily add it to their list of available parameters. (The Solo DL can log up to 64 parameters, but is currently tracking less than that.) There are people who have figured out a bunch of different CAN IDs, but unfortunately I have not seen anyone publicly disclose the DCT CAN ID.

Anyway, the AIM Solo DL can not only show you realtime info while in the car, but it can also record it all so you can analyze it later on a pc. I have made many improvements to my driving by looking at data recorded by the Solo DL.

[SYT_Shadow]

Aim SOLO DL for the win!!

[intercool]

Thanks Dogbone. This is helpful!

[///Mobbin]

Data acquisition is next on my list, good discussion!

[intercool]

dogbone

I saw this on youtube. Does yours display the same info for the E92? (i read BMW masks what the reading are for...)

Look at the :30 second mark with the temps.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by intercool

dogbone

I saw this on youtube. Does yours display the same info for the E92? (i read BMW masks what the reading are for...)

Look at the :30 second mark with the temps.

Here is the list of channels the AIM Solo DL can track and log from the CAN bus. Pretty much any of them can be displayed live.



Here's the doc I took the screenshot from. It's worth noting that the OBII connector gets far less data----only 9 channels versus 28 on the CAN bus directly: http://www.aim-sportline.com/downloa...T6_101_eng.pdf

Here is a window I setup with 4 channels:
-OILT is oil temps
-ENGT is water temps
-EXTT is ambient air temps
-ACCT is lateral G's



Here's another window people like. It's a time delta page that shows in realtime how you are comparing to the fastest lap in that session. It won't look to the whole day for the fast lap---it will just compare your current time with the fastest lap in that session.



The AIM Solo DL also has Predictive Lap times too.

I know you're interested in realtime data, but to be honest, I never look at that stuff while I drive. I only glance over briefly to see my lap time at the Start/Finish, and that's it. (I can glance at the dash to see the oil temp needle.) If you have tons of time to hang out and watch a data screen while you're driving, I'd say you're concentrating on the wrong thing!

Ironically, regardless of what page you have displayed on the screen, the AIM will interrupt everything and flash your lap time at the Start/Finish. This is ironic to me because let's say I have a screen up showing oil and water temps, the Start/Finish line is exactly the moment I want to know those temps to decide if I can get another fast lap in.......and the timer is showing me a lap time instead of the data I want for like 10 seconds.....hehe. That's ok. It's still great. And like I said before, having the data available for analysis later is absolutely fantastic.

Recently at Laguna Seca, a guy was wondering how long I stay on the gas on the front straight. I didn't even guess. I simply said, let's look at the data. We dug in, and I was able to show him with 100% hard data what I was doing. No butt dyno....no ego boosting.....no big-talking----just data.

[tdott]

I don't look at the live data. I only look at stuff afterwards. I use an iPhone 4 with Harry's Lap timer with an obd2 dongle, plus a 5hz GPS add-on.

The data it captures isn't great for our cars yet. It captures and outputs a log file that shows alot of basic stuff, but our M3s doesn't use standard obd CAN IDs for Oil Temp, so oil temp isn't logged currently in the app. In additional to all the lap and location data, rpm, throttle, gear, fuel level, coolant temp, iat temp and map are the only values I got from my M3.

Apparently Harry's Lap Timer is working on an update to support Custom PIDs so if they car has additional values, we just have to know the ID to start logging it. That would then give me Oil Temp, and hopefully I'd be able to find the DCT Temp PID to get that also. Logging timing advance would also be a great one to have if that is available.

For a hobbist like me it's enough data and pretty kool to be able to analyze that stuff after a track day.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by dogbone

We dug in, and I was able to show him with 100% hard data what I was doing. No butt dyno....no ego boosting.....no big-talking----just data.

The Solo is just great. I wish everyone had one.

People always say 'I don't lift in the esses'. Well, I would love to see their data that proves that. There are almost some questionable lap times, where someone is holding you up for the whole session yet does a time 4 seconds better than yours...

It's pretty awesome to have three drivers use two almost identical cars with data acquisition. You can clearly see where one driver gains or loses time vs the other, super interesting.
I use a Microsoft Surface Pro at the track and look at the data the 3 drivers are generating over the lunch break or whenever there's a question of where to break.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by tdott

....and hopefully I'd be able to find the DCT Temp PID to get that also. Logging timing advance would also be a great one to have if that is available.

If you ever do find out the CAN ID for the DCT temps, please let us know!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The Solo is just great. I wish everyone had one.

People always say 'I don't lift in the esses'. Well, I would love to see their data that proves that. There are almost some questionable lap times, where someone is holding you up for the whole session yet does a time 4 seconds better than yours...

It's pretty awesome to have three drivers use two almost identical cars with data acquisition. You can clearly see where one driver gains or loses time vs the other, super interesting.
I use a Microsoft Surface Pro at the track and look at the data the 3 drivers are generating over the lunch break or whenever there's a question of where to break.

Yup, I like to download data mid-day and see what's going on. Super helpful.

I created my own track profiles for the AIM at all our local tracks and then gave them to all my friends who have AIMs. That way we're all driving the same profiles and you can layer data from different cars onto one window pretty reliably.

[bigjae1976]

If anyone is looking for a brand new AIM SoloDL, I have one for sale...pm me.

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The Solo is just great. I wish everyone had one.

People always say 'I don't lift in the esses'. Well, I would love to see their data that proves that. There are almost some questionable lap times, where someone is holding you up for the whole session yet does a time 4 seconds better than yours...

It's pretty awesome to have three drivers use two almost identical cars with data acquisition. You can clearly see where one driver gains or loses time vs the other, super interesting.
I use a Microsoft Surface Pro at the track and look at the data the 3 drivers are generating over the lunch break or whenever there's a question of where to break.

So true - data shows that I always lift a bit in the esses.

[jakob66]

One cool feature with Harry is that you can email the export files after each session from your smart phone and import into other lap timer and/or -that's what we do- import into CircuitTools and have a large screen in trailer with laptop to see all details.
The corner speed's loss/gains @ distance -in comparison- is the most import graph! Once you see where you lose/gain speeds you can dig into brake points and other details.
Don't get me wrong DCT temp is good to know but it's not a highly active readout due to its heat sink nature. You can capture max. temps with standalone temp gages and sensors and then look at the max temps after the session.
However, one reason why I will switch to AIM is the ability to connect suspension travel sensors and 3rd party TPMS systems.
Cheers