7 replies to this topic

[ianashdown]

I'm trying to find a software solution to keeping track of the accumilated ,ileage of parts on a race car.  Being able to quickly bar code scan the 'build set' on the car at any one time and add mileage to the set would be helpful.  Then having pre-determined mileage limits, life-out predictions etc would be good.

 

I'm sure software for this exists, can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian

[Canuck]

Sure - how about Excel? Or Access? A bar code scanner is likely a fairly straightforward implementation.

[ianashdown]

I realize one can use Excel, but I was looking for something specifically developed for this purpose.

 

I've since found one, but would like to look at others if there are any.  LifeCheck is the one I've found; looks quite good.

 

Ian

[rachael]

SAP is the industry standard - http://www.sap.com/index.epx

[Canuck]

I use SAP daily. There's a reason some call it "Stops All Production". :-D In fairness, it's a reasonably fantastic piece of software, especially if you have a team of support personal to create your custom reports. That said, despite the resources of a globe-consuming multi-national behind us, we find it simpler to export the reams of data into excel for dissection.

You're the second person in as many weeks to ask about such software. Interesting.

[bigleagueslider]

I realize one can use Excel, but I was looking for something specifically developed for this purpose.

 

I've since found one, but would like to look at others if there are any.  LifeCheck is the one I've found; looks quite good.

 

Ian

ianashdown-

 

I took a quick look at the LifeCheck website, but it only appears to consider mileage in tracking component life.  While this simplistic approach may be satisfactory for some uses, for other components that are very highly stressed and/or whose failure in service may create a hazardous condition, a more sophisticated lifecycle tracking approach would be required.  The remaining (fatigue) service life of a suspension or drivetrain component is determined by both the number and magnitude of accumulated load cycles, and these values can vary greatly for a given mileage, depending upon how the car was driven or what the track layout was for that accumulated mileage.

 

In the aircraft world, digital electronic Health Usage and Monitoring Systems (HUMS) are now widely used for monitoring flight/fracture critical components and systems.  These HUMS systems use high-frequency instrumentation and data acquisition systems to record the operating loads and cycles for critical components, and then calculate the remaining service life of those components in real-time using sophisticated software. 

 

While I don't think the application you have in mind would justify the expense of an aircraft-quality HUMS, you may still want to consider a system that has a greater level of sophistication than LifeCheck does.  Given that there are lots of powerful, low-cost automotive/racing data acquisition and instrumentation systems available off-the-shelf, it would seem to pose no problem collecting whatever amount of data you need.  The only other information you would require is a load/lifecycle characterization of each component to be monitored.  The data downloaded after each session/race would be added to the totals for each component in the database and the remaining service life would be recalculated. Calculating fatigue life in metal structures requires a bit of specialized knowledge in stress, metallurgy and statistics, but it's not beyond the technical grasp of most mechanical engineers.

 

And if there are no commercially available applications that meet your particular requirements for technical sophistication and cost, you may be able to make some money filling a market niche.

[cmdrew]

I appreciate that this is a fairly old thread but I have just joined the forum and found it.  Firstly I must say that I am involved with Trenchant Technologies and the LifeCheck software but would like to point out that LifeCheck is able to manage component lifing in a number of ways not just on distance travelled.  In my experience of helping a number of F1, INDYCAR, NASCAR and many other teams with their lifing, distance travelled has been the primary way in which components are lifed however where we have identified additional requirements we have implemented them quickly.  

 

LifeCheck now supports both expiration dates and time limits to define the life of a component and also has a facility called 'Calibrations'.  Calibrations allows a limit to be set for a component based on an arbitrary numeric value - for example the thickness of a clutch plate or brake disk, number of actuations of a DRS system or degrees of twist/run-out of a drive shaft.  This would equally apply to load cycles if these were required to be measured.  A limit can be set beyond (or below) which the component is deemed to be out of life.  New calibration values can be recorded at any point but are usually recorded after each session run by the component.

 

While no system can hope to be 100% in all circumstances, LifeCheck has been, and will continue to be developed based on the needs of the teams using it and as such we hope that it will continue to satisfy these needs.

[Lee Nicolle]

On a race car you should be able to do it simply manually. Simply write it down when items serviced and how many laps you have done at each event.  Computerising will be slower than doing it manually. And the cost is a biro and an exercise book!