Tamir Plachinsky wanted to build a modern Formula 1000 racecar unlike all the Formula cars before it—a next-gen vehicle for next-gen racers. It would not require a team of mechanics and technicians to race and maintain. The care and expense of a Formula racecar tend to make the sport out of reach for individual racing enthusiasts. Tamir wanted to change all that.
One problem, though. Tamir lives in Israel, where few share his passion for Formula cars. “Israel is a desert for racecars,” he laments at PTC’s LiveWorx 2017. “There are no Formula cars, no Formula drivers, no fan base and little domain knowledge.” This also makes for little interest in investing in a startup for racing cars. Tamir realized that, in order to bring his dream of Formula car racing to his country, he was going to have to run lean.
Tamir set about founding Griiip (the Grip.com and Griip.com domains were taken) and creating a car. By employing the latest technology, like CAD, simulation, IoT and augmented reality, he hoped to empower an extraordinary engineer or two to design, build and race a Formula car. The result was the G1.
Formula 1000
Formula 1000 is a Formula class of open-wheel, single seat racecars created by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) distinguished by having to use a 1000cc motorcycle engine. With entire race cars available from $30,000 to $65,000, the Formula 1000 lets racecar enthusiasts channel their inner Lewis Hamilton and, at speeds that top 150 mph, gives them much of the same thrill of Formula One racing.
The Griiip G1 uses a 1000cc super sport motorcycle engine by Aprilia that produces 201 HP coupled to a 6-speed sequential gearbox. Unlike most other Formula 1000 cars, it uses a driveshaft rather than chain drive. With its glass fiber shell, the G1 weighs a scant 470K kg including a 50 kg driver.
“Carbon fiber has good strength, but for safety, we have to use fiberglass reinforced composites,” says Tamir. “Carbon fiber parts break with sharp edges.”
PTC Software in Use
Augmented reality (AR) give glimpse into Griiip's Formula 1000 racecar, on the exhibit floor of LiveWorx 2017 in Boston. Not visible behind the smartphone, Tamir Plachinksy, CEO of Griiip, holds a card with a "ThingMark," that is being used to represent the car.
Tamir shows how part of the race car can be shown without taking off the shell using his smart phone. The parts, modeled in Creo have been saved into an augmented reality environment with PTC’s ThingWorx Studio. As Tamir aims his smart phone towards a registration mark on a card (a “ThingMark”), various internal systems (suspension, powerplant, transmission, etc.) and their parts come into view on the small screen.
Formula cars are already steeped in technology. Their streamlined chassis are honed by CFD software, and their structural parts all undergo stress analyses. Formula One car parts—and drivers—are sensored, wired and transmit crazy amounts of data that is studied by race teams to glean every possible competitive advantage for the next race. Many of the real parts of the car have been covered with sensors that stream data from the car to wherever it may be needed, such as to the driver or the pit crew during a race. For example, a suspension component showing excessive strain can be replaced before it fails. It’s not unusual for a Formula One car to have 200 sensors. But with Formula One teams representing sizable corporations that may even employ chief technology officers, Formula 1000, several levels below, runs on much smaller budgets. A Griiip’s team photo shows 12 people. Griiip has had to find advanced technology that is affordable and easily managed.
“We are using PTC’s ThingWorx platform for its IoT and AR,” says Tamir.
Various and varied information shown against the real race car using augmented reality, including flow simulation. Video from Griiip.
The G1 Formula 1000 race car was on display on the show floor at PTC’s LiveWorx conference, where it may have been, in the absence of any aerospace examples, the fastest of all the products being shown. Griiip’s use of PTC software, both old (Creo) and new (ThingWorx) ought to make the company the poster child for PTC. I hear it may end up on display in the lobby of PTC’s Boston-area headquarters and I expect they will roll it out for future user events.