I have been busy mathematically modeling my kart. The general public doesn't realize exactly what engineers do. So here's the quick and dirty.
Math can be used to describe anything. From how much weight a rope can hold, to how fast a car can drive, or I have even come across some equations in my day, that I would describe as 'beautiful'.
So when modeling something like a go-kart, engineers can literally "build" the kart out of math. The trick is describing it well enough to be accurate, but general enough to be solvable. So I make a couple of equations to describe how my motor behaves, how my tires behave, even make an equation that I have 'taught' how to drive a stupid car.
The results have JUST hit bare bones. BUT, I can now start modifying, tweaking, and eventually, predict how any given change to my kart will effect its performance. I will finally begin to fill-in some of that 'black magic'
Below is a picture of what it can be like to 'build a kart out of math'. The program is called 'simulink' and it is very mathematical yet it makes combining chunks of 'code' into a neat little picture. The graphs you see are just some performance parameters I was observing. The graph in the bottom right is how much each tire has deformed as a function of time. You can see how the kart is rocking around as the kart turns left and right. Left is the path, programed a command path which was somewhat arbitrary. In the background you can see some of the systems I have built to describe all sorts of various aspects of what it takes to drive a car.
So I will be playing with this tool HEAVILY and will hopefully post some movies of it in action soon.
Math can be used to describe anything. From how much weight a rope can hold, to how fast a car can drive, or I have even come across some equations in my day, that I would describe as 'beautiful'.
So when modeling something like a go-kart, engineers can literally "build" the kart out of math. The trick is describing it well enough to be accurate, but general enough to be solvable. So I make a couple of equations to describe how my motor behaves, how my tires behave, even make an equation that I have 'taught' how to drive a stupid car.
The results have JUST hit bare bones. BUT, I can now start modifying, tweaking, and eventually, predict how any given change to my kart will effect its performance. I will finally begin to fill-in some of that 'black magic'
Below is a picture of what it can be like to 'build a kart out of math'. The program is called 'simulink' and it is very mathematical yet it makes combining chunks of 'code' into a neat little picture. The graphs you see are just some performance parameters I was observing. The graph in the bottom right is how much each tire has deformed as a function of time. You can see how the kart is rocking around as the kart turns left and right. Left is the path, programed a command path which was somewhat arbitrary. In the background you can see some of the systems I have built to describe all sorts of various aspects of what it takes to drive a car.
So I will be playing with this tool HEAVILY and will hopefully post some movies of it in action soon.
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