AIM Dataloggers

[RPD Motorsport]

I know, written by a programer in Italian, translated by a madman (Italian) into layman speak and then translated by someone half asleep into an aproximation of English. It oftens helps to just play and then read the manual after and go 'oh thats what it means!'

[tristancliffe]

Ha ha ha.

The difficulty in trying it first, is that only works if you already have the stuff to play with. If you're trying to choose what you want, it's much harder. The AiM websites (there appear to be lots of 'official' ones, each with a different look, some up to date, others less so etc) don't have a great deal of information on what everything can do, so I've had to resort to reading the user manuals and firmware revisions to work out the feature lists of each product.

Maybe they should get a native English speaker to write manuals and product summaries for them...

[RPD Motorsport]

It is a pain. Your best bet would be to speak to Andrew Smith from Data Spairs:

http://www.dataspares.com/

who is not only an importer and stickist of AIM, MoTec, Pi, Stack etc, but visits AIM regualy and knows them all inside out. He is well placed to advise you what you need and what each product can do.

[Casper]

I have been using AIM products for a long time (think Mychron 2) and each year I have been told they are going to put it into a readable English format. I am still waiting.

[tristancliffe]

Originally Posted by Casper

I have been using AIM products for a long time (think Mychron 2) and each year I have been told they are going to put it into a readable English format. I am still waiting.

I won't hold my breath! Whilst AiM do seem to be very good at releasing new firmwares and software updates, the other stuff (manuals, documentation, product details on their websites, a central place to find the most up to date stuff, a support forum) seems to take a back seat. But maybe that isn't a problem if the product is good enough and sells itself...

Originally Posted by RPD Motorsport

Predicted lap is your instantanoius delta. You can have it compair to your best overall lap (for qualifying runs/to abort laps) or to your best sector from the theoretical best lap (better setting for testing things out) as your best lap may not have hed the best corner x for example.

So if I set track sectors in RS2 (let's say 6), it would give me delta times to the best split I did whilst in that split, but not necessarily all from the same lap. Without setting splits, it just shows delta to the best overall lap? Ja?

Anyway, I've ordered an Evo4 with a TG Dash, plus a memory key and a memory key extender. I ummed and ahhed about the memory key, as I felt that plugging the laptop directly into the car wasn't that big an issue, but then I realised the key would be more convenient AND acts as a bit of an insurance policy, as the Evo4 will still record data onto itself as well.

Lots to learn about how to use it best, and how to use it for analysis efficiently, but that's part of the fun. Hard to do much though until I've fitted it, powered it up, and logged some data.

[JNWRF01]

Guys - new convert to AIM - using it my kids cadets karts. I have the GPS units installed - have set the logger to the correct setting in terms of weight etc etc - how accurate do you think the BHP/Torque settings are on the logger? Or you just think I can use it for a benchmark reference against the engine tuner's dyno?

Love the GPS addition - but struggling to see how I can calibrate the "lines" on Google maps perfectly. We are about 5meters out! Also - how can i see what lines he is taking on a normal graph'd map?

Thanks

[Michael24]

Originally Posted by JNWRF01

but struggling to see how I can calibrate the "lines" on Google maps perfectly. We are about 5meters out!

That would be Google Maps in my experience (AIM+Smartycam and Driftbox).

Michael

[tristancliffe]

Torque/power channels are, at best, a complete guess, and aren't even comparable between the same car in different sessions.

GPS, at the affordable end of the market, even when complimented with accelerometer channels, isn't even accurate to 5m really, certainly not in absolute terms (in a given session, with more than 5 satellites visible, they can be relatively accurate to within a couple of meters). As such they can't REALLY be used for driving line analysis. Onboard video is far better for that!

[JNWRF01]

I have cameras on the karts for that reason... Shame as the AIM website looks great on the GMaps overlay..

[Casper]

Originally Posted by JNWRF01

Love the GPS addition - but struggling to see how I can calibrate the "lines" on Google maps perfectly. We are about 5meters out! Also - how can i see what lines he is taking on a normal graph'd map?

Thanks

The simple answer is you can't. The only way to get true maps is to use physical channels. The sprint karting community has been convinced you only need an M4 and GPS and that is simply not true. Despite what your kart shop says data logging requires physical channels. Forget DA for a while and just get the kids to drive and learn what happens on a track. Been there, done that many times.

[Paceracing]

Originally Posted by Casper

The simple answer is you can't. The only way to get true maps is to use physical channels. The sprint karting community has been convinced you only need an M4 and GPS and that is simply not true. Despite what your kart shop says data logging requires physical channels. Forget DA for a while and just get the kids to drive and learn what happens on a track. Been there, done that many times.

Dead right. GPS simply isn't accurate enough. I have used it in both military and professional top level motorsport and it simply isn't accurate enough for driver line analysis. Save your money and buy a little GoPro camera. It'll be the best money you ever spent. For proper driver line analysis, video can't be beaten.

[tristancliffe]

Funny how the Racelogic's marketing strategy is on the apparent virtues of GPS driving line analysis, usually at Rockingham's first hairpin (which is a corner with about a dozen legitimate entry lines). I've never had the heart to tell them that they're wrong!!

Anyway, my AiM stuff has arrived, and I've powered it up but haven't plugged my laptop in to program it or check all the channels work (assuming it can show live data over USB?). That's a job for tomorrow and the weekend. Not sure if I'll bother with the MemoryKey. Turns out that I'll need to buy a Data Hub to use it and the mini dash display, and I've spent enough already. Another £50 to get the MemoryKey, or just download via USB but miss out on the 'backup' that the Key provides...

Also, with the GPSManager, how do they cope with track configurations? If I set start/finish and splits for, say, Brands Indy and Brands GP, there is no way for it to know which circuit I'm using... is there?

[Casper]

You do one lap and log that lap to the GPS, a very rough summation of the process. What sort of dash/logger are you using? Go to here....
http://www.aim-sportline.com/pages/d...umentation.php

All the docs are on that page, the GPS stuff is fairly up to date fortunately and make sure your firmware is up to date. AIM specialise in updating the firmware/software without documentation and leave it up to the user to sort it out. Both firmware/software revisions seem to have slowed down lately which is good or it means a major re-write on the way and we will all be back in the dark again.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Paceracing

Save your money and buy a little GoPro camera. It'll be the best money you ever spent. For proper driver line analysis, video can't be beaten.

This is for kids and video does not work, what works is physical tuition and marking the track for them. Don't complicate the process, kids do not retain concepts they retain being shown for instance at a particular corner what is expected of them. if you ask a child to clean up his room he will not do it until shown because a child does not understand what clean up means. The same thing applies to driving, they have to be shown or learn by example as in following someone who is doing things you expect the child to do. It does not take them long but it is necessary.

Kart shops make a killing by telling new starters that DA for kids is necessary and it is all BS. They compound this by saying an M4 + GPS is the panacea of all things karting and that is more BS.

[tristancliffe]

Originally Posted by Casper

You do one lap and log that lap to the GPS, a very rough summation of the process. What sort of dash/logger are you using? Go to here....
http://www.aim-sportline.com/pages/d...umentation.php

All the docs are on that page, the GPS stuff is fairly up to date fortunately and make sure your firmware is up to date. AIM specialise in updating the firmware/software without documentation and leave it up to the user to sort it out. Both firmware/software revisions seem to have slowed down lately which is good or it means a major re-write on the way and we will all be back in the dark again.

Yes, I've read everything, but it doesn't really help! I've set the start/finish coordinates of every track we'll visit in GPSManager, although I obviously don't have maps yet. But once I have a map of, say, Brands GP and Brands Indy, how would it know which to use? Or do I have to remove one from memory so as not to confuse it?

I don't think I'm explaining it very well...

Using Evo4 with a TGDash (the dash is solely for laptime/delta displays.

[JNWRF01]

I 100% agree on DA not being for kids... I have a GoPro on their karts for them to learn and the AIM GPS systems so I can check I have set the kart right/geared correctly/engines working fine etc etc.

When I have shown then their traces - I might as well ask them to do more maths homework. But the GPS has shown me immediately the flaws in their techniques - eg braking pressure etc. So it's great for Dads if not next kids..

[Casper]

Originally Posted by JNWRF01

I 100% agree on DA not being for kids... I have a GoPro on their karts for them to learn and the AIM GPS systems so I can check I have set the kart right/geared correctly/engines working fine etc etc.

When I have shown then their traces - I might as well ask them to do more maths homework. But the GPS has shown me immediately the flaws in their techniques - eg braking pressure etc. So it's great for Dads if not next kids..

That is the whole point, it can't show flaws as the system is nowhere near accurate enough. What it can show you is the GPS is flawed for any type of accuracy you think you are getting. Every dad thinks he needs GPS in sprint karting but all it does is lead you up the garden path and makes the kart shops richer. I can teach a child to be quicker around a circuit while you are looking at a GPS track map.

As for the track recognition, the GPS will plot the coordinates it is at any track it has been to an automatically pull up the track map. Early on there was an issue with the proximity of two circuits under a certain distance but they did away with altitude IIRC to fix this issue.

[Belatti]

I forget about this topic!!!

After what I posted I solved my problems and been using the EVO4 and an MXL Pro with no problems at all.

Never understood GPS manager at all, but I can live with that.

Dont tell me "read the manual" as its badly written, has poor information and you simply cant do the things that it teaches you (or the buttons doesnt work or a bugs crashes your computer)

Anyways, interesting discussion about the GPS. I found a solution: did 2 laps in my street car: one following the outside line of the track and another following the inside. I export GPS data to excel and plot the traces with the track limit lines and the racing car lines. With excel you can modify gps coordinates to "fix" the traces, knowing one place the car passed (from the video).

[tristancliffe]

So, I got my Evo4 + TG Dash, and it's working well. A typo in the GPS coords of Donington didn't help my delta time, but as it was so wet it didn't really matter.

Thought my brake pressure sensor had broken (output constantly about 1.3 volts), but I think that channel 2 (and linear damper pot) has gone wrong somewhere and was interfering with channel 1 (brake pressure).

Anyway, it's all going well, and the software is easy to use, especially once I'd got a decent User Profile sorted out. But how can I plot a graph from the entire session? E.g. water temp over 25 minutes of recording? I can get it over one lap, and I can use the Channel Report to see max, min, average etc, but I'd like to plot it if possible?

Anyone know?

[tristancliffe]

Too late to edit - I know that I can see an overview of it on the graph of the laps at the bottom of the screen, but you can't get values, and if more than one channel is selected you get a fuzzy mess that you can't understand.....

[Casper]

Not having done that I would think the only way is to export the data to excel and do it from there.

[Andrei]

What I usually do is to have a Channel Report.
It is a icon like a diagram with some yellow lines underneath.
You have then maybe selected two chanels by default but can change them with the button Add/remove in the table.
You have there options for Min/Max/average and so on and you can select how many laps you want for this.
Hope that it is something that helped you.

Andrei

[rmontana]

First, I introduce my self. I live in Santiago, Chile. I drive a Formula car, Chasis TITO 02, with nissan 1600 cc engine and Fueltech ECU.
I just bought an Evo 4 and a formula steering wheel to connect with my FT300 Fueltech ECU.
I made all the connections, the EVO to the battery and ground, to my Ecu with the Can cable, can + and can - connected in the recommended position, and in the 5 pin labeled ecu. The steering wheel in the labeled Exp. The steering wheel lights on, but I can`t see the RPM, or the oil pressure or the engine temperature. Its seems that the EVO 4 doesn´t read the ECU.
I configurated the EVO4 with the race studio 2, told to him that my ECU is Fueltech with CAN connection, activated the datalogging in the ECU and connect the AIM CAN cable with the pinout from the manual.
When I connect the ECU to the laptop with the cable can usb, I can see all the values with teh engine running, RPM, pressures and temperatures.
The FUELTECH support says that the ECU baud rate es 250kbps. I think that the EVO 4 baud rate is 1 Mbps.
Any ideas? What am I doing wrong?
Regards
Rodrigo