Learn Me: Data Acquisition

The whole name of the game is fun, and being of the engineer persuasion, data is fun. Does anyone have any experience with data acquisition? Specifically I'm looking for something that would interface with OBDII, GPS map things, and have a 3 axis acclerometer. Additionally I'd love to be able to expand in the future and synchronize with video and what not. Price is always a concern but I could drop a couple thousand dollars on this and end up more entertained than if I spent that money trying to get 15 extra horsies out of the deuce. I could actually justify that to my wife.
So, what can you tell me about data acquisition?

iPhone + harrys lap timer + bluetooth 5hz GPS unit + mount + optional PLX Kiwi OBD2 wifi
android + similar app (trackaroo is one) + bluetooth 5hz GPS unit + mount + optional PLX Kiwi OBD2 wifi

Either option should be under $250 + the cost of the phone (GPS unit ~$100, PLX Kiwi ~$100, mount ~$25, app ~$25)

If anyone tries to sell you a Max Q, run away.

The world is your oyster.

Get a GRM magazine, just check the companies advertising- IIRC, there are 3-4 companies who buy ad space that will fit your bill.

Note- there are very few GPS systems out there that are actually 10Hz or faster- if in question- find the chip, and look it up. Some claim that the GPS outputs data at a high rate, and it's partially true- but the GPS is doing the interpolation of the data.

AIM Solo DL plus Smartycam - around $1k all in, 10khz GPS and all the data you could ever want via OBDII interface. Not a full on pro system but seems like a great value for the money.

pigeon wrote: AIM Solo DL plus Smartycam - around $1k all in, 10khz GPS and all the data you could ever want via OBDII interface. Not a full on pro system but seems like a great value for the money.

This looks very cool except for a few things. The smartycam itself is $1000 and when I look at the cars it talks to my mazda2 isn't one of them. Is their just a camera that adds onto the solo that I can't find?

The Traqmate that syncs with the gopro looks quite nice as well. Anyone try this?

May 2011 issue of the mag?

In reply to mazdeuce:

Have you considered the DigiDash II Pro+ unit from ETB Instruments? http://www.etbinstruments.com/DD2_Pro_Plus.htm

The DigiDash II is a high quality unit designed by racers. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the features, ease of install and general use. ETB even includes free Lifetime firmware updates. The price is much less than the competition.

You can download the user manual, analysis software, log examples, etc for free.

http://www.etbinstruments.com/Digidash_Downloads.htm

Please note that we are the US agent for ETB Instruments and a long time Grassroots Motorsports advertiser.

We use the DigiDash II Pro+ in our Hayabusa powered Sylva J15 and Fury cars. I have the DigiDash Lite & Pro+ in stock.

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.

Thanks

Chet

Galek Motorsports Racing

862-668-7373

Hello fellow engineer in training/study!

I moved from a Traqmate to Solo DL just because of the $/performance value. The OBD2 connect absolutely makes the package for me. Also less wires, ease of removal and mounting. I am very happy with my purchase. I drive an 08 Si, its my daily during summer (Cant afford to daily it during school year), its my year round autox car, track car and hillclimb car. If I had a dedicated track rat/race car I would probably start looking at hardwiring something more serious from AiM or maybe the new Motec CDL3. Synching video is usually cheaper if you do it yourself rather than buying a full "system" and typically gives you better video quality and options for a bit more hassle. Good luck

Chet wrote: In reply to mazdeuce: Have you considered the DigiDash II Pro+ unit from ETB Instruments?

That is really bloody cool. If I was building a race car you would be at the top of my list. Unless I missed something though, I'd have to wire up the whole car and that's not something I'm particularly willing to do to a brand new car. Right now. Site bookmarked though. Cool stuff.

rwdsport wrote: Hello fellow engineer in training/study! I moved from a Traqmate to Solo DL just because of the $/performance value. The OBD2 connect absolutely makes the package for me. Also less wires, ease of removal and mounting. I am very happy with my purchase. I drive an 08 Si, its my daily during summer (Cant afford to daily it during school year), its my year round autox car, track car and hillclimb car. If I had a dedicated track rat/race car I would probably start looking at hardwiring something more serious from AiM or maybe the new Motec CDL3. Synching video is usually cheaper if you do it yourself rather than buying a full "system" and typically gives you better video quality and options for a bit more hassle. Good luck

Thanks for the input, how is the Solo DL when autocrossing? Do you have any examples of anything you've synced with video and data that I could peek at? I've been leaning this way anyway and it's good to hear that you're happy. OBD2 connectivity is something that I really want. I'm not sure it's perfect, but I really want to play with all of the available data that I can collect from the car natively. I went so far as to go but a GoPro for my autocross practice this weekend with the idea of getting used to it and ordering the SoloDL in another couple of weeks. Nobody had the GoPro with the auto mounts locally so I'm using a point and shoot and a cobbled together GPS windshield mount instead.

mazdeuce wrote:

rwdsport wrote: Hello fellow engineer in training/study! I moved from a Traqmate to Solo DL just because of the $/performance value. The OBD2 connect absolutely makes the package for me. Also less wires, ease of removal and mounting. I am very happy with my purchase. I drive an 08 Si, its my daily during summer (Cant afford to daily it during school year), its my year round autox car, track car and hillclimb car. If I had a dedicated track rat/race car I would probably start looking at hardwiring something more serious from AiM or maybe the new Motec CDL3. Synching video is usually cheaper if you do it yourself rather than buying a full "system" and typically gives you better video quality and options for a bit more hassle. Good luck

Thanks for the input, how is the Solo DL when autocrossing? Do you have any examples of anything you've synced with video and data that I could peek at? I've been leaning this way anyway and it's good to hear that you're happy. OBD2 connectivity is something that I really want. I'm not sure it's perfect, but I really want to play with all of the available data that I can collect from the car natively. I went so far as to go but a GoPro for my autocross practice this weekend with the idea of getting used to it and ordering the SoloDL in another couple of weeks. Nobody had the GoPro with the auto mounts locally so I'm using a point and shoot and a cobbled together GPS windshield mount instead.

I dont record video for my autox, for autox I prefer to look at just the hard numbers, because the video has too much noise with respect to sensory input and conclusions you can draw from. The numbers don't lie and I find the video can distract you especially when you have a position trace. If you would like, I can send you some sample data from autox as that is all I have used it for thus far.

Some thoughts to consider, the OBD2 is not perfect, but its easy and only going to get better. For example, with the traqmate, I had to run a tach sensor just to get a critical data value. It cost me more, it ran an extra wire and was no place for a street car. As cars get more and more dependent on the ecu control, more data is logged. I suspect on something like an STi, you can pull throttle position, AFR, boost, steering angle, brake application...etc. Can you imagine how much of a pita it would be to run separate sensors to all of that? Not too mention, you can plug this into a new car of say an instructor to compare data, it will take you 2 minutes to mount everything. Im pretty impressed with the unit especially considering I paid more for a used traqmate, it offered less and was less reliable. The Solo DL even remembered the stop box from the even previous, as it was almost in the same position.

I think in addition to the standard accelerations and position, the three most critical data values you want are (throttle and/or rpm, brake and steering angle (if possible, not easy to achieve)). With this information, you can pretty much break down an entire run into hard, raw numbers and figure out your optimal performance and how to get there.

Finally, I would say the best advice I can give you is evaluate the software first. Most of these units offer basically the same functions, OBD2 is the new standard to be competitive with entry level dataAQ but the software is what makes the difference. Its usually free and you can find sample data easily, so evaluate that first. Usually it boils down to how user friendly and efficient the software is.