Lenovo Notebooks in the Pits

Jim Leonard, a Program Manager of Business Transformation at Lenovo writes:

I donâ€â„¢t know how many of you out there have had a chance to watch the process of starting up an F1 car, but it is certainly different from how we start our road cars.

First, all the major engine fluids are brought up to temperature using heating elements inserted into the oil and coolant tanks. There is no sense in having the motor doing this and go through extra wear and tear as well. Then, prior to turning the motor over, the laptop PC is plugged in. It doesnâ€â„¢t send the signal to start the motor, but is there to monitor the status of the engineâ€â„¢s key parameters. Then, minus spark, the engine is turned over with the starter motor so the read outs on the laptops can be checked to ensure that pressures and everything else is proper prior to ignition.

There are over 120 sensors on the car and it takes 2 miles of cabling to connect them all to the on board computer. Much of that data can be sent back to the pits wirelessly for analysis. FIA rules prevent adjustments from being made automatically, but instead the engineers can advise the driver what changes he can make manually from the controls on the steering wheel.With all that data being broadcast on wireless frequencies it is secured by encryption and other methods. Something we should be just as concerned about in our own wireless networks we use at home and at work.

via LenovoBlogs