 |
|
|
|
|
Company Success Stories - Indy Race Car Driver Scott Sharp Relies On AMD Athlon™ XP Processors for Extreme Performance
Indy Race Car Driver Scott Sharp Relies On AMD Athlon™ XP Processors for Extreme Performance
Profile
Indy Race Car Driver Scott Sharp Relies On AMD Athlon™ XP Processors for Extreme Performance
April 30, 2002
"Performance on the racetrack is linked to the information technology in the Pit. That’s why we love the AMD Athlon XP"
The fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 as a huge 2.5-mile-long rectangle. The winner of the first Indy 500, which took place in 1911, averaged less than 75 miles per hour (mph) on a track designed to handle 85 mph vehicles.
In spite of structural improvements made over the ensuing 81 years, the basic shape of the track has not changed. Its narrow width and sharp turns provide an incredible challenge for Indy drivers such as Scott Sharp, who average well over 200 mph throughout the race.
Perhaps those challenges explain the enduring allure of this event above all others on the Indy car circuit, known as the Indy Racing League. Drivers and fans alike recognize this event as the ultimate crucible for both man and machine.
Year after year, modifications in the design of open wheel Indy cars have resulted in faster speeds. Lighter, faster racing machines with radically improved aerodynamic designs continually push the performance envelope. Yet a new tool has emerged to further boost racetrack results: information technology.
Sharp, one of the top performers in the Indy Racing League, knows first-hand about the key role information technology plays in today’s races. He’s had a bird’s-eye view of the evolution of the sport as well. His father Bob was a six-time national Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) champion in the days before computers hummed in the pits.
“It's amazing how electronics and computers are so involved in Indy racing today,” Sharp said. Sensors relay information telemetry back to the tent every 1/10 of a second. The sensors relay information about throttle, tire pressure, load, and G-force to allow monitoring of the car during the race. This helps ensure that the car keeps functioning at near 100% by helping to determine what changes are required at pitstops.
“In a race, you only have the opportunity to make a few changes,” Sharp explained. “The guy who wins is the one who makes the fastest decisions about what to change. How fast you can analyze the data is the key.”
In today’s races, teams often run three or four computers per car. So much data comes in so quickly that it takes a team of three professionals to keep up. One engineer focuses exclusively on the chassis. Another concentrates on fuel and tire data. The third focuses on temperature and engine pressure.
“It's vital to have processors that are fast enough to keep up,” Sharp said. "Several years ago, we had a computer crash, which caused chaos in the pit. That’s one of the reasons we've upgraded to the AMD Athlon™ XP processor.”
Computers first entered racing in the mid-1980's to help monitor electronic fuel injection and timing systems. By the early 1990's, the race scene truly began to embrace computer technology, and its importance to the sport has only grown since then.
“During the race, I'll radio back to pit to tell the crew that the car isn't handling quite right," Sharp explained. "I don’t have time to go into specifics, but the engineer can monitor incoming information that shows I'm losing grip, or that the lateral loading is going down. They can tell that the tire pressure or suspension has to be adjusted or that the track has gotten greasy or hot.”
Superior computer hardware translates to precious seconds gained on the track. “So much more information is available about both cars and drivers to help explain why one lap is quicker than another. It’s amazing,” Sharp said. “My team needs PC performance that can handle multitasking with high reliability. That’s why we depend on AMD technology.”
Information technology will never supplant the critical role of car and driver, but it clearly redefined the requirements of the sport from the racing days of Bob Sharp to the modern scene where son Scott is making his mark.
“At the end of the day, when the green flag drops, the driver still has to drive, wheel to wheel, as hard as he can,” Sharp said. “But the way teams go about perfecting the car has changed forever. If you're not on the forward edge of technology, you're going to fall behind.”
© 2002 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names used are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.
|
|
|
|
|
