Data Acquisition Systems: Issues of Use and Interpretation of Data

Data acquisition systems are becoming widespread in various motorsport categories. Manufacturers and suppliers of such systems can provide excellent training materials regarding their installation and use but it is felt that the advantage goes to those teams with full understanding of the issues associated with obtaining and interpreting data. In particular, assumptions, limitations and sources of error associated with sensors and data processing systems must be at least appreciated for understanding and making decisions based on information yielded. This paper highlights some of these issues and recommends that suitable education courses be completed by practitioners in the field.