Racelogic

Racelogic Ltd
Industry Automotive Testing
Founded 1992
Headquarters

Buckingham, UK

Weilburg, Germany
Key people

Julian Thomas (Founder)

Harry Thuillier (Chairman)

Graham Mackie (Chief Executive Officer)
Products VBOX, LabSat, Video VBOX, RACELOGIC Traction Control, PerformanceBox
Number of employees
80(2015)[1]
Website racelogic.co.uk

Racelogic Ltd is an automotive technology company based in Buckingham, United Kingdom.

The company develops a range of GPS, CAN bus, Inertial navigation system and video recording equipment. Racelogic also design applications for use in vehicle testing, motorsport, marine, defence, aviation, and GNSS device testing.

History

The company was founded in 1992 by Julian Thomas after graduating from Durham University [2] with a degree in Physics and Electronics.

The company first developed an electronic control systems for the motorsport world, launching a Traction Control device in 1993. Car manufacturers were quick to adopt the Electronic stability control device which reduces the chance of an accident occurring [3] and enhances vehicle acceleration,[4] with Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce Limited being two of the first car manufacturers to use the system.

With the US government's decision to turn off GPS selective availability in 2001, GPS signal accuracy went from 100m to 3m overnight.[5] Using the effectiveness and flexibility now offered by GPS technology, and the opportunity for high speed, high accuracy GPS devices within the vehicle testing market, Recelogic launched its first Velocity Box (a.k.a. VBOX) in 2001. In 2008 it launched its first video VBOX, a product that combined multi-camera video with GPS data logging and graphic overlay.

In 2004 the company celebrated selling its devices to its 50th country worldwide and was awarded the Queen's Awards for Enterprise in 2007, followed by another two Queen's awards for Innovation and International Trade in 2012.

Operations

Racelogic specialise in the development of GPS, CAN-bus, Inertial and video based equipment,[6][7] designing applications for use in vehicle testing, motorsport, marine, defence, aviation, and GNSS device testing.[8][9]

Starting with the production of traction control units in 1993, the company now manufacture GPS data loggers,[10][11][12] GPS simulators,[13][14][15] and in-car video systems.[16][17][18]

The company employs 80 staff in the UK, Germany and United States and opened a Representative office in China in 2015.

Racelogic Ltd provide products and services which fall into three broad categories:

Automotive Testing - Serving the three major automotive manufacturing markets (i.e. Germany, America, Asia), Racelogic systems are used by suppliers to test new designs and vehicle concepts.[19]

Motorsport - Racelogic supply amateur and professional motorsport enthusiasts with performance meters and data logging devices.[20] The Video VBOX, allows users to record and replay video footage from their time on track.

GPS Simulation - Launched in 2009 Racelogic's LabSat allows companies to repetitively test GNSS equipment from a stationary location by simulating live satellite signals.[21]

Products

Racelogic design and develop high accuracy GPS data loggers, speed sensors, video data loggers, and GNSS simulators, suitable for vehicle testing, motorsport, marine and mining applications, defense, aviation, as well as the testing of GNSS enabled devices.

VBOX GPS data logging products vary from the 10Hz VBOX Mini, an easy to use but highly capable unit for simple testing and lap timing to the VBOX 3i which logs at a 100Hz, is available in single and dual antenna variants, and which forms the basis of the VBOX Advanced driver assistance systems testing packages. Differential GPS and RTK (Real Time Kinematic) solutions allow for high positional accuracy, and inertial measurement unit integration increases the testing scope further. VBOX systems are employed in many types of testing: automotive, marine, open-cast mining, motorsport, aviation, and collision forensics.

VBOX Speed Sensors provide high accuracy speed signals at between 5Hz and 100Hz for those that require speed, position, braking distance, or acceleration data without the need for internal logging. VBOX Speed Sensors connect via CAN, digital, or analogue interface to a third-party data logging equipment. All Speed Sensors are compatible with a DGPS Base Station for increased positional accuracy, and the dual antenna variant adds slip and pitch/roll output at 100Hz.

Video VBOX Lite camera system with predictive lap timing display. Designed for motorsport, track day and vehicle testing, RACELOGIC video systems combine a digital video recorder with camera and stereo audio inputs, a real-time graphic overlay, and a GPS data logger. As well as capturing GPS and CAN data in the same way as a standard VBOX data logger, the Video VBOX and VBOX HD also record GPS time synchronised video. This footage can be enhanced with a data driven graphic overlay, allowing you to add bar graphs, rotary gauges, text elements, pictures and track maps, showing parameters such as G-force, speed, split times, lap times, etc.

LabSat 3 GNSS simulator is a GPS simulator gives the ability to record and replay real RF data from up to three satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou) simultaneously. LabSat also integrates seamlessly with the Video VBOX to record and playback videos, which is tightly synchronised with the GPS data, allowing you to see the exact conditions experienced during the GPS recording. LabSat recording works with almost any kind of GNSS, including survey grade engines. With high fidelity 2 or 4 bit sampling, LabSat is ideal for testing GPS receiver sensitivity.

PerformanceBox is a GPS based performance meter that allows you to measure G-forces, speed, lap & split times, 0-60, 0-100, braking distance and many more. The Predictive Lap Timing function (live comparison to best lap) gives instant feedback on the driving, and all parameters are logged to an SD memory card ten times per second for later review and comparison.

References

  1. "History". Racelogic. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. "Durham University". Dur.ac.uk. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  3. "howsafeisyourcar.com". Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  4. "HowStuffWorks.com". HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  5. "About.com". Geography.about.com. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  6. "Vehicle Dynamics International". Vehicle Dynamics International. 2010-09-07.
  7. "European Motor News". European Motor News. 2010-09-07.
  8. "insideGNSS". Inside GNSS. 2010-09-07.
  9. "insideGNSS". Inside GNSS. 2010-09-07.
  10. "EVO Car Magazine". Evo.co.uk. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  11. "Goliath". Goliath.ecnext.com. 2002-11-07. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  12. John, Honest (2002-06-08). "Telegraph". Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  13. "GPS World". GPS World. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  14. "Electronics Weekly". Electronics Weekly. 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  15. "Thomas Net News". News.thomasnet.com. 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  16. "Irish Times". Irish Times. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  17. "CNET Car Tech". Cartech.fr. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  18. "Rally Buzz". Rally Buzz. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  19. "Car and Driver". Car and Driver. 2011-09-08.
  20. "Worldbook and News". worldbookandnews.com. 2011-09-08.
  21. "GPS World". GPS World. 2011-09-08.
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