Freescale, McLaren develop future Formula One electronics

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Freescale, McLaren develop future Formula One electronics
Christoph Hammerschmidt
EE Times Europe
(11/12/2008 8:29 HM EST)


MUNICH, Germany — Beginning 2009, Formula One racing cars can be equipped with energy recovery systems similar to what is in today's hybrid drive cars. Freescale Semiconductor and McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) will collaborate to develop the complex systems for next-gen racing vehicles.
A change in the Formula One rules allows that the racing cars can recuperate kinetic energy, store it and use it to accelerate the cars during the race. There is no regulation as to the physical principle of these Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS); theoretically they can use batteries or supercapacitors to store electrical energy or even store the kinetic energy directly in flywheels. However, by far the most F1 racing teams will rely on electrical systems, explained MES managing director Peter van Manen. "This is the biggest change in the Formula One world for decades," van Manen said.

Freescale and MES will collaborate in developing the complex power management circuitry required for the KERS. While the cooperation aims at winning F1 races in the first place, Freescale and even MES will benefit from it since the technology developed can be used in standard hybrid road cars in several years. "It's much bigger than racing," explained van Manen. He expects that the experience gathered will strongly influence design of future vehicle electronics, in particular under the aspect of power and battery management.

McLaren plans to use Freescale's motor control microcontrollers and power system expertise. However, the systems to develop will largely be centered on power aspects. Basically, the vehicles (if they use electrical energy recovery systems) will be equipped with a motor generator which will convert kinetic energy into electrical energy when the car brakes. This energy then is stored in a supercapacitor or a battery. The driver will get a "boost" button at the dashboard which will allow him to reuse the electrical energy to add to the torque within the limits of the F-1 rules.

The new F1 rules stipulate that the maximum power stored does not exceed 60 kilowatts and that no more than 400 kilojoules of energy can be reused per lap, which means that the drivers have to use their additional thrust wisely.

The designers have to find the best compromise between weight, size, cooling and other technical aspects. This makes the selection of the optimal power storage the central decision. "Battery or supercap? There are benefits for both," van Manen said. "This is a complex calculation with many factors." However, the weight for batteries will play a crucial role. Van Manen declined to go into figures, but an additional "weight of 100 kilograms would be definitively too heavy," he said.

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