Weekly Edition
Return to the Press page| Weekly edition | Kernel | Security | Distributions | Search |
| Archives | Calendar | Subscribe | Write for LWN | LWN.net FAQ |
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
ITPro has run a
lengthy study of how Formula 1 racing teams are using Linux to
improve their performance. "The same system that can run on 2000
core processors with terabytes of memory can be tweaked and tested on the
engineer's laptop. In a world where a fraction of a second makes all the
difference the ability to tweak the parameters, adjust the algorithms, and
push the equations to their limits, can be the difference between winning
and losing. As in all high performance industries the motor racing teams
have found a distinct advantage in working with open source, for the most
practical of reasons, performance, cost and flexibility."
(Log in to post comments)
(Log in to post comments)
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted Apr 29, 2008 23:35 UTC (Tue) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link]
That's funny. As I understand it, F1 recently declared that in future races all its cars must have exactly the same engine controller, running exactly the same software ... provided by Microsoft. I wonder if they bothered to ask any of the people actually involved, first.
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted May 1, 2008 8:32 UTC (Thu) by amimjf (guest, #506) [Link]
It is a common ECU, but its not made by Microsoft. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7577.html
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted May 1, 2008 16:03 UTC (Thu) by amurphy (subscriber, #29715) [Link]
The hardware is from McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) and the software is from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/M... Also, the article read like an ad for SGI.
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted May 10, 2008 13:41 UTC (Sat) by rev24 (guest, #43165) [Link]
Exactly. "...push the equations to their limits" - I've never seen the word "equation" in such a context before. These passages just scream marketing.
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted May 2, 2008 21:49 UTC (Fri) by kbob (subscriber, #1770) [Link]
99% of the computing power in F1 is not in the cars, but in server farms where components and subsystems are being continuously designed and simulated, using FEA and CFD codes.
Linux and Formula One (ITPro)
Posted May 3, 2008 22:07 UTC (Sat) by jd (guest, #26381) [Link]
Given that the requirements change from time to time and technology improves year to year, it might make sense if instead of making arbitrary decisions to try and and even out the teams, they required that defunct designs be open sourced instead. Research and development is the most expensive component, so eliminating essentially defunct research would have the same effect without having to create unnecessary restrictions. Now that Formula 1 is seeing the benefits of Open Source on design of the cars, maybe - just maybe - they can see the benefits of Open Source on the design of the formula itself.