The High Speed Safety Camera by Magneti Marelli Motorsport, adopted this year by all of the cars in Formula 1, has received an award at the Professional MotorSport World Expo 2016 in Cologne, Germany, in the category of “Motorsport Technology of the Year.”
Developed in collaboration with the Global Institute for Motor Sport Safety and Sustainability, part of FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the International Automobile Federation), the micro video camera represents an important example of the application of advanced technology for the improvement of driver safety.
Magneti Marelli’s High Speed Safety Camera is a front-mounted camera aimed at the driver’s helmet, which is capable of filming images with a frequency of 400 frames per second. This device has a crucial and completely new function in terms of safety: thanks to the elevated frame rate, the camera is capable of recording high-resolution and very detailed images of the movement of the driver’s neck and head in the case of an accident, supplying potentially very important information for the reconstruction of the dynamics of traumatic events and aiding the interpretation of data provided by the other sensors positioned on the vehicle (accelerometer, gyroscope, steering angle). A special device has been created for the transmission of data, which immediately compresses the videos in H.264 High Profile format and sends them via streaming to the FIA Surveillance Data Recorder for archiving, together with the other information supplied by the vehicle.
“We are honored to receive such an important award,” said Roberto Dalla, head of Magneti Marelli Motorsport, “particularly because it fully seals Magneti Marelli Motorsport’s main goals in the field of competition: developing new technologies through racing that we will see applied in our road cars tomorrow, and make our know-how and talent available to the FIA in order to improve the safety of our racing cars and our street cars day after day. We are particularly pleased not only for the creation and performance of the High Speed Camera, but also for the excellent collaboration between the FIA Teams and Magneti Marelli, which has allowed us to reach such a challenging milestone.”
The “Motorsport Technology of the Year” award was assigned by a jury composed of 25 international sector experts. Among the jury members was the Technical Director of Dallara, Andrea Toso, who justified the choice by underlining the important implications for the motorsport world. “The Magneti Marelli camera is an innovation with great potential in terms of safety and fan engagement. It has the potential to change the perception of motor racing as a whole.”
The 11th edition of the Professional MortorSport World Expo 2016 took place Nov. 9-11 in Cologne. Over the years, the event has become a point of reference in Europe for all sector experts in the field of motor competition.
Magneti Marelli’s Motorsport division develops electronic and electro-mechanical systems for two- and four-wheel competition vehicles. In particular it supplies systems for engine and chassis control and data acquisition in addition to the related key components, powertrain for hybrid and electric applications with electric motors and smart power electronics, telemetry systems, electric and electro-hydraulic systems for gearbox control and software applications.
