Racelogic win two Queen's Awards for Enterprise

Racelogic announced as double winner in the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, with both Innovation and International Trade awards.

Announced on Saturday 21st April, to mark Her Majesty’s birthday, the 2012 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise listings contained 209 companies, with Racelogic being one of only four to be honoured with the award for both Innovation and International Trade.

Racelogic won the Innovation award for our advances in GPS/GLONASS test simulation, with customers such as Broadcom, ST-Ericsson and Telefonica using LabSat to test their devices.

Synchronised Video and GPS in ADAS testing

One car maker finds out if VBOX is as accurate as claimed for NHTSA tests

Active safety systems are now common in new cars, as manufacturers seek to differentiate themselves from the competition and satisfy consumer demand for safer motoring. Sophisticated ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) such as collision avoidance and lane departure warning need to be extremely accurate to conform to regulations - so engineers must be able to rely on the accuracy of the systems used to test their performance.

After purchasing a VBOX ADAS testing system, one of the worlds’ largest car manufactures recently decided to prove to themselves that it satisfies the NHTSA accuracy requirements before rolling it out in their new vehicle development.

Read the full article and see how our ADAS system performed here >

Slip angle measurement has never been so accurate...

UK based electronics company Racelogic have recently made a ‘huge breakthrough’ in vehicle dynamics testing technology with the launch of a GPS data-logger that enables you to measure slip and pitch/roll angles with low latency at 100Hz.

The new VBOX3i Dual Antenna (VBOX3i SL) uses two antennas placed a fixed distance apart to capture vehicle dynamics (along the vehicle for pitch and across the vehicle for roll). By utilising both the GPS and Russian GLONASS constellations, RMS accuracies of up to 0.04° for slip and 0.028° for pitch can be achieved.

Why use VBOX for ECE R90 Brake Pad Testing

In September 1999 European Brake Test legislation ECE R90 was introduced. Stipulating that all vehicle brake pads and linings manufactured and sold within the E.U. must comply with R90 standards, the test involves comparing the performance of replacement brake pads and linings with those originally fitted to the vehicle.

Used in brake testing applications around the world, VBOX systems can be used in all four of the main procedures used to validate the performance of brake pads and linings to ECE R90 standards.

See how you could use VBOX for ECE R90 Brake Pad Testing here>

Verifying the brake test distance accuracy of VBOX

To allow us to verify the brake test measurements obtained by the VBOX unit, we teamed up with some major car and tyre manufacturers to develop an accurate and independent validation. 

We start by using a fixed known starting point for the braking event. We then use a marked line on the test track which has been drawn perpendicular to the direction of travel.

Read how we verify the brake test distance accuracy of VBOX here>

The challenges of measuring braking distances accurately

You’re doing some brake stop testing. But what distance do you actually want to measure? This question isn’t as simple as it sounds.

We understand the importance of measuring braking distance very accurately, and we are constantly testing and refining our methods to ensure the most accurate and consistent results.

Find out how to ensure your brake tests are accurate and consistent here >

Brake Testing article featured in Automotive Testing Technology Magazine

Brake stops are one of the most dynamic manoeuvres in vehicle testing and every centimetre counts. We wrote an article on this which was published in Automotive Testing Technology Magazine last month.

Read it here >

VBOX Tools Software: New Release

VBOX Tools version 2.2 has now been released with a host of new updates and features, and is available to download now!

Enhancements include:

• Re-alignment of page tabs and addition of a scroll bar in Report Generator Test Setup, in order to allow the whole setup page to be accessed on Tablet PC screens.
• A new feature called “Dynamic Throttling” has been applied to the live Line graphs. This means that VBOX Tools can detect the incoming serial data com buffer level and automatically change the Line graph window update rate, preventing data loss. Great for laptops, tablets and older computers.

VBOX Compatibility Matrix Online

To make it easier for you to specify VBOX systems and understand which VBOX systems are compatible with which modules and peripherals, we have produced a compatibility matrix. Available here>

New Firmware available for VBOX3i

Firmware version 1.6 is now available for VBOX 3i. Enhancements include:

• To counteract the loss of a speed signal during periods of total satellite dropout, a VBOX 3i can now seamlessly replace GPS speed with a vehicle speed signal captured from another suitable source (such as a CAN wheel speed signal).
• Addition of a second Time to Collision channel to the VBOX3i ADAS application, in order to conform to a NHTSA forward collision warning system NCAP confirmation test.