anyone got any GPS data of the Nordschleife?

thinking about a little project for Easter, following on from John's excellent 'Ring tutorial DVD. planning to map the track into GPS and have it announce each corner before you get there to help learn it quicker.

these guys have started something similar:
http://www.yellowduck.co.uk/products/quack/

 

Personally, I think anything that encourages people to push harder before they have track knowledge is a bad thing .

 

Is it going to make you push harder, or give you warning?

I think it's a good idea

 

I think it will encourage you to drive harder, as you will be told what corner is coming up, rather than learning (which requires much more caution IMHO).

 

If you're using a GPS unit with laptop/car pc software then you could just set corners as POI?

With software like Infomap Navigator you can save your GPS data in NMEA format to be replayed - that might be what you're after isn't it?

Cheers,

Andy

 

FRS, I was in discussions for making something similar for a project with my university. I wanted to develop a Windows CE program to record your route around the track, so when the lap is done you can compare your lines along with many other laps all overlayed onto a map of the circuit. As well as recording instantaneous speeds all the way round. Possible addons could include accelerometers for measuring g-forces around the track also.

Basically a program to datalog readings that we already take (e.d. Datron) but to overlay them onto a map.

In the end I decided that GPS couldn't pinpoint your location accurately enough. (I forget the exact accuracey, I think it is 2m) Either way it wouldn't be great for examining your lines!

 

Yeah, but the point of his project is to warn you of upcoming corners - not compare racing lines so GPS would be accurate enough - it's just whether the software would be fast enough at reading out the corners in time for you to react!

Cheers,

Andy

 

thanks for the input so far.

mike

andy - that sounds like just the job. but we would first have to drive round once to store it, and then add all the POI. but that's one way of doing it that we hadn't thought about. we wanted to get something sorted before going next time.

phil - it's more for telling you what's coming rather than comparing lines and times, so the accuracy doesn't need to be that good. 2m is good enough.

 

You can have voice on certain programs

Easy left followed by long hair ping right

 

'' im 100 meters, gehen sie rechts''

 

I personaly think you're best to learn the general direction/section names of the track off the track. That way when you drive it there's no need to have to think about what is coming next or rely on being told by a machine! There's plenty of video's/DVD's and track notes/guides floating about!

Bloody hell Phil, sounds a bit involved! Trouble with the Ring is that every lap is going to be pretty different, there's always people to pass/let past, yellow flagged area's etc etc to negotiate making it tricky to always stick to a particular line and speed.

 

Andy,
I believed that Nick's (FRS) suggestion was for the system to would say the name of the corner. This is because warning you that a corner is coming up is of no use what-so-ever , you need to know whether it is a left, right, and the speed of it etc . By giving you the name, you will know which way that particular corner goes, and it's speed (that you have already safely driven round it at etc). The real difficulty at the Ring is not that a corner is coming up, but the ORDER of the 147 corners - as a beginner, you can get confused as to what is coming up next .

 

Could get watty to put pace notes on it ..... actually sod that lol

 

Yeah Watty's notes: 90 right - flat, 180 left - flat .

 

Yes, but what I suggested was helpful was it not?

I'm not a complete fucking moron! Although some may say otherwise...

 

Are you sure no GPS Europe maps have it on? It is a public road after all..

If so then stick it in Tomtom and hey presto, you have some wicked 3d map (not overhead!) of whats coming up. Tomtom is great for road rallies/country lanes Easy to see when sharp corners are coming up if you trust it!

 

Fook looking down at that at 140MPH after Flugplatz etc etc to see whats coming up Phil!

 

Andy,
Yes, you made a VERY good point . My Sat-Nav directs you to a roundabout and then as you go over it and out the other side at even normal speed, it only announces "exit coming up" at what seems like seconds after you have already taken it . Not really suitable for the Ring if there is a similar delay .

 

just checked, and it's actually all mapped out in MS Autoroute. looks like it will be easy. proper bo.'

just want it to tell you the name of the corner coming up, if it's left/right, and maybe a speed that you know is safe and any other warnings like corner tightens, camber changes etc.

of course you'll still have to look out for other traffic and stuff, but could be a useful thing to learn the circuit quicker. don't know about anyone else, but i can't read the signs for each corner on the side of the road, and if it's read out to you each lap it will all flow together better.

 

foreigner RS, just use a Tomtom map, seriously! You can set your own Points Of Interest (e.g. speed cameras) and have a verbal warning for each POI

Job done...

 

sounds just the job phil, if tomtom includes it. will check. cheers mate.