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The Profiler, the revolutionary wheel speed management and traction control device from Davis Technologies, has taken the drag racing world by storm over the last two years. In class and sanctions where they are legal to use, its easier to count the cars without a Profiler than those with, and the championship and world records have, and continue, to pile up on its resume. But Davis Technologies’ own Shannon Davis admits that despite all that he and the racers have learned about the capabilities of the Profiler, there’s still a lot more that’s yet to be unearthed.
Here, the parameters for the Vehicle Position Sensor can be programmed into the Profiler.
One such addition, which Davis hinted at earlier this year, was the ability of the device to be used for drive safety purposes: namely, in making millisecond corrections for the driver in the event of a wheelstand-turned-blowover incident. What he’s developed is the nine-axis position sensor known officially as the Davis Vehicle Position Sensor.
“The first feature that we’ve gone after with this device is wheelie control, tying it into the Profiler. As the car goes into a wheelstand, you can have it retard timing or drop cylinders. It’s impervious to G-forces or vibration — it only reads angles, so it’s functionality can’t be affected by other variables,” Davis explains.
As the car goes into a wheelstand, you can have it retard timing or drop cylinders. It’s impervious to G-forces or vibration — it only reads angles, so it’s functionality can’t be affected by other variables. – Shannon Davis, Davis Technologies
It can also be programmed via the Profiler for a designated start point, so that it’s operation won’t affect the early part of the run, where a wheels-up launch may be part of your routine, but will turn on later in the run to control any unwanted downtick wheel stands at speed.
Davis’ interactive booth included this LED display (seen above the Profiler) of the degrees of timing being pulled or advanced as you angle the Vehicle Position Sensor up and down in your hand.
“We did some testing with some optical sensors on some cars this year,” Davis says. “The problem with optical sensors is that they get out of range, and that’s when you get in trouble, because when they get out of range, they quit altogether. It’s retarding and then it quits, and then you’re doing a wheelstand at full power. So, we felt it was best to go with this type of technology.”
Davis also has this sample device wirelessly connected (the production device is hard-wired) to a vehicle on the computer screen, and rotates in unison with the angle of the device.
Davis believes many smart racers will work the Vehicle Position Sensor to their advantage beyond the simple safety aspect, as they could potentially “tune” the car by utilizing the spark advance/retard to let the car lightly dangle the front wheels early in the run for optimum power transfer. We build tuning tools, and it’s up to the racers to find creative ways to use them,” Davis says.
The Vehicle Position Sensor features two, three-axis accelerometers, a three axis gyrometer, and a three-axis magnetometer, all suspended on springs and oil, under pressure, within the case.
