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Why F1 Steering Wheels Have Over 20 Buttons - And What They All Do
- iwwr 15y agoA case in point that experts can handle complex interfaces, as long as they provide more control.
- mkinsella 15y agoAnd as long as they are properly trained. None of us would be able to simply get into an F1 car and figure out what even half of these buttons do.
- iwwr 15y agoYou can't get into any car and drive if you have not been properly trained.
- ominous_prime 15y agoLikely, none of us would be able to simply get into an F1 car and even drive it anywhere at all. There was a Top Gear episode where Richard Hammond tried to drive an F1 car. I figured with his experience he could make a decent go at it, but apparently the cars are so specifically tuned for going fast that it's all-out, or nothing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo
- sbierwagen 15y agoSpecifically, the problem is braking. In normal use, a F1 car will never be driven gently. It will be driven very, very quickly by a professional, racing against other professionals who are also driving hard. So the tires have a lot less traction when they're cold, and the brakes don't work enormously well either. Hammond needed to be going much faster, just so the car could work properly; but alas, he's a television show host, not a driver.
- marshray 15y agoPerhaps you could state that a bit more definitively - experts require a complex interface to perform optimally. This violates every principle of mass-market user interface design - I love it!
- StavrosK 15y agoNo they don't. They require a powerful interface. Complexity just comes with more power, but there's nothing to suggest that an expert would perform better with a more complex interface than with a simpler one, if both offered the same functionality.
- marshray 15y agoI think there probably is a principle at work to suggest that one of the properties of an expert-friendly 'powerful' interface is that it will be perceived as 'complex' by newbies. Experts will need to have access to a large set of features (e.g. 10 different types of tire/track conditions) that newbies don't. Experts will also need ways to override interface logic which is in place to guide users automatically to the right settings (e.g. wizards, DWIMminess).
- kprobst 15y agoI think you're confusing "complicated" with "complex". The former is to be avoided, while the latter is sometimes unavoidable, and in some cases (as here) desired. This also is a basic tenet of software design as well. I don't mind complexity, if it's necessary and clearly documented. Complicated code on the other hand is the hallmark of a broken development process or a lack of developer skills.
- jrockway 15y agoIt depends. At least one plane has crashed because the pilot thought the plane was in "decent angle" mode instead of "vertical speed" mode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148 The key UI problem is that "-3.3" on the display can mean both "3.3 degree descent angle" and "3,300 feet per minute descent speed". Good UI design is important even for trained professionals. If the computer is configured incorrectly, it may take too long to realize that there is a problem, and that's bad.
- bborud 15y agono, not really. an F1 car has fewer controls than a ordinary car. different controls yes, but fewer. most people would not consider the controls on their cars "complex". because they are familiar. What sort of familiarity do you think you'd develop if this was what you did for a living? next, most controls are sort of "modal". for instane, the clutch bite, and the two clutch paddles, are only really relevant during the start (the clutch will be used if the car spins and needs to get going again, but that is a completely different, less demanding, situation). the mix buttons and a few of the other buttons are not really worried about by the driver. the engineers tell the driver what to dial in. the reason those buttons are there is because they are not allowed to be remote controlled. for the most part the driver will only routinely fiddle with the brake bias (not on the steering wheel), the diff and the KERS controls. of course, if you have spent all of your teens and your adult life in race cars none of the above will be "complex" to you. in fact, my TV and its remote is arguably much, much more complex than the user interface of a an F1 car.
- Peroni 15y agoInteresting to note that the steering wheel alone costs in the region of $40k.
- jpk 15y agoProbably because they're not mass-produced. For some enterprise-level prototype printers at Lexmark, it costs around 40-50k to produce one, but once they reach production, the consumer only pays a few thousand for one.
- marshray 15y agoI wonder how many backup units they have to keep on hand? :-)
- Swizec 15y agoThe biggest surprise was when he alluded to the fact that when going through a corner you have to change differential settings three times ... I imagine just taking a corner at those speeds would be hard enough, let alone playing around with buttons while doing it.
- bruce511 15y agoI didn't interpret it like that. I think that while they may fiddle for balance (for example as the fuel burns off, and the weight comes down, or as the tyres wear etc), I'm not sure they change it for each corner. He mentioned there was a setting for "high speed" corners so I think it's a case of getting the optimum setup for a lap, and then running with that for a while. While there are a lot of switches, it's noticable that the ones they'd want to use a lot, like the KERS, are very close to the fingers in their normal position, whereas the ones which are more "setup" or "fiddle" are closer to the centre of the wheel. I don't think they go through a corner with one hand on the wheel and the other adjusting something in the middle of the steering wheel. Still I suppose when the xBox "F1 Controller" of "tomorrow" comes out, we'll all find out. (Alas without the G-Forces...)
- CWuestefeld 15y agowhile they may fiddle for balance (for example as the fuel burns off, and the weight comes down, or as the tyres wear etc), I'm not sure they change it for each corner. Actually, the setup of the car is not active at all, except for brake bias (which is set via a mechanical lever on the cockpit wall). There is no way to change ride height, stiffness, etc., dynamically. About 20 years ago there was a period in which everything about the cars were dynamic (culminating in the Williams FW-14B [1]). The ride height and other suspension settings, etc., were all under electronic control, so that the setup could be altered for every corner. And thanks to bidirectional telemetry, these settings were actually controlled remotely from the pits without the driver needing to intervene. However, the arms race of complexity and cost led teams to agree to a ban on this technology. It's a bit of a shame, because the engineering had become every bit as interesting as the racing itself. [1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Williams_FW14 https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Williams_FW14
- rbanffy 15y agoIt's the Emacs of driving!
- temptemptemp13 15y agoWhy can't he show us the back?
- PedroCandeias 15y agoTeams try not to show anything they don't absolutely have to, whether they have secrets there or not. It's just how they roll. Mercedes, however, do have something called a "magic paddle". So they do have an actual reason for keeping the back of the steering wheel away from prying eyes.
- Arjuna 15y agoHere is a short video clip of a reporter attempting to get Mercedes GP's team principal Ross Brawn to disclose the details of the "Magic Paddle": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWuJx2Ukik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWuJx2Ukik
- LokiSnake 15y agoThere was speculation that the call was related to Schumacher's use of the DRS. We'll probably never know for sure.
- samuel 15y agoBecause since it's hidden they don't want to disclose that information to other teams. I recall DLR(McLaren's driver) being asked about it after explaining their steering wheel's controls. Anyway, IIRC the interviewer "guessed" that it was another way of activating the DRS, so in practice it's not really so secret, but F1 its like this...
- swah 15y agoMaybe there's a Ferrari sticker there.
- julianz 15y agoThe stickers that scare me the most are the Microsoft stickers on the ECU's...
- splatcollision 15y agoI love the user interface design work that goes into the F1 wheels - and they're all completely custom by each team, for each driver. Great website as well.
- StringyBob 15y agoHa - the turbo boost button is Z, not B (but you have to pick up a mushroom first). Michael Schumacher was the king of the 'extra controls' on the steering wheel when back at Ferrari, supposedly changing many of the parameters controlling car setup while going round a corner. (Insert 'had them before everyone else' hipster joke here). I'm sure this must have influenced this setup. However, think of the other side of the coin. Consider the UI design problem of too much information in an emergency for safety critical systems, particularly in the context of this article: http://en.espnf1.com/williams/motorsport/story/39747.html http://en.espnf1.com/williams/motorsport/story/39747.html
- LokiSnake 15y agoTo be honest, Barrichello isn't someone you should pay that much attention to on such topics. I think he's the only F1 driver that still uses his right foot for braking when it's proven that left foot braking provides a clear advantage. Also, F1 highly depends on passive safety systems instead of ones that require driver input, because when things go wrong, there usually isn't much a driver can do to fix it anyways.
- peripitea 15y agoDo you have a pointer to good info on the left foot braking thing? I wonder if it's applicable to normal driving as well. I remember thinking that right-footed braking seemed dumb when I was learning to drive. The best explanation anyone could give me was that in a panic you might slam on both pedals, which didn't seem like a great argument.
- PedroCandeias 15y agoWhen driving a stick shift, you'll frequently need to shift gears while either accelerating or braking, meaning your left foot must always be free to operate the clutch while the right foot is either on the throttle or the brakes. If you get into the habit of braking with your left foot while driving an automatic, you'll have real problems whenever the need arises to drive a manual. I think that's a much better reason.
- jasongullickson 15y agoSo how does this compare to a NASCAR wheel? ;)
- adestefan 15y agoA NSACAR wheel is pretty simple. A radio button and that's about it. They put the controls on the dash. Remember a NASCAR car and F1 car have different requirements. An F1 car's goal is to go as fast as possible and nothing else. A NASCAR car's goal is to go pretty fast, but take a beating while doing it.
- samwillis 15y agoF1 cars tend to go round a few different types of corner as well ;-)
- asmithmd1 15y agoThey show the wheel clicking into place after the driver is in. How many contacts do you think they have between wheel and car? Is it some kind of serial protocol where they only need 2 wires? RS-485 maybe
- adolph 15y agoThe physical connecter may be a slip ring. This place has pretty graphics of slip rings: http://www.rotarysystems-sr.com/ http://www.rotarysystems-sr.com/
- Lagged2Death 15y agoThe display alone looks like it has well over 100 discrete segments. Has to be serial something-or-other.
- marshray 15y agoThere are lots of few-wire protocols and something that critical probably uses several methods. My guess is that there's backup battery power in the wheel and an inductively coupled data channel (like NFC and some RFID).
- reedlaw 15y agoShould be no more complex than a laptop dock connector which also clicks in place.
- idonthack 15y agoexcept for, you know, the part where it has to fit onto the end of the steering column between the drivers' knees, withstand strong forces without malfunctioning or becoming dangerous, and operate in all weather conditions.
- julianz 15y agoAn example of the forces involved on the steering wheel - Petrov's crash earlier this year where he jumped the car and the steering column broke: http://videos.larioja.com/informaciondecontenido.php?con=3437 http://videos.larioja.com/informaciondecontenido.php?con=343...
- swah 15y agoIs this considered ugly by minimalist (say Apple like) oriented designers? Could an UI like this, to be used by experts most efficiently, be redesigned with a minimalistic mindset, or the complexity of the underlying system has to appear?
- po 15y agoThis is designed to be used by experts most efficiently. This is already minimalist. Single function (non-modal) buttons are the fastest, most fail-proof way of controlling state. Peek into the cockpit next time you get into a plane. I was actually a bit surprised that there is a "Multifunctional Rotary Switch" which appears to be modal. Don't confuse visual minimalism with actual simplicity. I believe BMW did that with their iDrive system.
- Shorel 15y agoIt is. And lots of soccer moms would complain if a car for sale had that kind of wheel. However this wheel is not for the mass market, it is for a very small group of professional drivers that make a living using it, so it is totally irrelevant if a designer likes it or not.
- javanix 15y agoAt first the "Drink bottle" button seemed pretty ridiculous to me. Then I remembered that driving 200mph and having to negotiate a water bottle by hand would probably be impossible.
- there 15y agosome perspective on how fast f1 cars are: mostly road-going race cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhu13qp8Oc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhu13qp8Oc f1 cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seget3zOj_8&feature=player_detailpage#t=11s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seget3zOj_8&feature=playe...
- dhughes 15y agoThat's unreal! I'm an F1 fan but even that surprised me.
- earnubs 15y agohttp://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJUhu13qp8Oc&start1=0&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dseget3zOj_8&start2=13&authorName=HN http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtu...
- CWuestefeld 15y agoBeing at a race in person gives you a very different impression than TV. For one thing, video doesn't convey the incredibly ability of an F1 car to change direction. But maybe the best illustration of your point is obvious at a race. When the pace car is out -- and mind you, this is a top-of-the-line Mercedes sports coupe -- it's going around the track just as fast as it can, tires squealing and the whole works. And the parade of F1 cars is following as if it's a walk in the park, swerving left-and-right in an effort to keep their tires warm at such "slow" speeds.
- LokiSnake 15y agoThe swerving left and right actually does not keep their tires warm, especially at those lower speeds since they aren't generating enough downforce. What it can do is communicate to the driver what the tires can do right now and provide the confidence when they need it. Accelerating/braking is how they generally put heat into the tires.
- bitwize 15y agoOne activates the buzzsaw blades, one activates the jump, one sends a robotic messenger bird... (Yes, I know Speed Racer was rallying and not F1.)
- vegasbrianc 15y agoSo how many more seasons before the drivers become obsolete and the engineer in the pits controls the entire car?
- BasDirks 15y agoI don't see how this makes sense. As demonstrated the drivers have a lot of controls that are traditionally pre-set BY the engineers. The engineer is moving into the car, if anything.
- jimbokun 15y agoCould probably do it now, but no one would watch.
- vegasbrianc 15y agoF1 robo series maybe? I agree the driver still has a lot of influence. But, if drones can fly around in the skies then a pilotless F1 car is not so unrealistic. Fans liking robo F1 cars no one really knows for certain but it would be very interesting to see.
- fletchowns 15y agoThe limiting factor in F1 these days is the driver, there was a great article in Popular Science about it. Without worrying about keeping a driver alive (and conscious), the cars would be substantially faster. They also talked about how physically demanding driving an F1 car is, and how a driver is basically an athlete in prime condition. In keeping their heads upright through turns they develop some ridiculous muscle in their necks. There's a funny video on youtube of an F1 driver crushing a walnut with his neck.
- seanalltogether 15y agoI don't think you can make the driver obsolete. Perhaps some day they won't be physically sitting in the car, but I don't think logics alone can win a race. You need someone in control with a good mix of instincts, timing, and brashness to win a race.
- 15y ago
- unwantedLetters 15y agoI watch F1 regularly, but to hear him speak of getting a gain of "tenths of a second" as a huge thing is still astonishing to me. Must be a frustrating life. Specially speaking as a software developer, where we're getting a free doubling of the speed every 18 months. I'm sure Moore's Law will run out at some point, but I can never quite appreciate exactly how much that helps us. The helps give a little perspective.
- sspencer 15y agoJust be glad you don't work on high-frequency trading systems if "tenths of a second" seems like a frustratingly small gain. Our office erupts into cheers when we shave a microsecond or even 500 nanoseconds off our loop times. :)
- zwieback 15y agoLoop of what, some kind of numerical iteration? Sounds like fun, what kind of platform is this on. I assume any kind of OS or HLL is out of the question.
- akronim 15y agoI assume any kind of OS or HLL is out of the question. Not really, computers are fast! Per message costs of a few microseconds are pretty standard even in Java/C# stuff.
- scottyallen 15y agoDitto for when I worked on improving the speed of Google web search. Shaving 100ms off of page load time was (and is) a major accomplishment.
- unwantedLetters 15y agoI think I understand what you are saying. It's a competitive sport, so given the current resources and technology, how much performance can you eke out is really what I should have been thinking about. In an adversarial environment like you describe, I'm sure every bit of time you gain is a huge plus. So yes, our speed doubles every 2 years, but so do our competitors'.
- zbowling 15y agoSomeone from Apple needs to visit them. Create the iF1 with one button, capacitive touch screen, and GESTURES!
- nikcub 15y agoI am surprised that there are not more F1 fans here on HN. It is the best sport to follow if you are a techie or geek - there is so much advanced technology involved in the cars and racing that make what happens off the track and in development just as exciting as the actual races. These guys are on the cutting edge in a number of fields: materials science, aerodynamics, computer aided design (there is a car this year that was designed and tested all in software with no wind-tunnel), energy recovery systems, fuel performance, tyre compounds, telemetry, computing power and machine learning with strategy, etc. etc. etc.
- there 15y agoi am partial to ALMS currently. less restrictions, more creativity for car design and strategy, widely varying cars on the track at the same time (traffic creates passing opportunities/blocking), and the planning and strategy involved in winning (or just finishing) 12- and 24-hour endurance races.
- dchest 15y agoHere's a video about the all-CFD car and their simulator (from last year): http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/09/video-behind-the-scenes-at-virgin-racing-nick-wirth-interview/ http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/09/video-behind-the-scene...
- mtw 15y agoI'd be more interested if they do an electric cars race, that's the future, and that's where need most innovation.
- Arjuna 15y agoWhile there are currently no fully-electric racecars in F1, some teams are attempting to innovate in the area of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). According to the current F1 sporting regulations, teams have the option of implementing KERS via electrical or mechanical means. http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understanding_the_sport/8763.html http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understanding_the_sport/87...
- gigantor 15y agoD - Drink Bottle - Perhaps the most important button? Performance and concentration does increase quite a bit when you're properly hydrated.
- tobylane 15y agoThey've mentioned it breaking in hot muggy countries, I think Coulthard said he lost a few kilos.
- singular 15y agoVideo discussing lotus's steering wheel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Zkbbfygjw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Zkbbfygjw and one with Lewis Hamilton discussing his - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMvt0rO20g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMvt0rO20g - though he does get talked over in Italian (I think it is).
- Arjuna 15y agoIt is interesting to note how F1 technology makes its way into consumer cars. Take Ferrari, for example. Although first introduced in the F430, the 458 Italia features a steering wheel-mounted manettino dial that allows the driver to configure settings that directly impact the speed of gearbox changes, traction control settings and differential settings. Starting at about 1:05, this video demonstrates how the various manettino settings are utilized on the 458 Italia, and how they modify the vehicle's driving profile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGFP1644aU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGFP1644aU
- Groxx 15y agoB : Activates Kinetic Energy Recovery System Oil : Activates supplementary oil tank for engine PL : Turn pit lane speed limiter on/off Tyre : Adjust electronics to suit different tyres Any idea why those aren't automatic? I'd think you'd have some computer-detectable indication for when oil would be useful, pit-lanes are identifiable by detecting location, and send the tire type over wirelessly when changed. And why wouldn't you want KERS running? Seriously, I'm asking. I'm not an F1 buff. When you have that much on the wheel, I'd think removing what you can would be important. Especially given the very-early line: >This year designers have had to squeeze in buttons for [KERS] and Drag Reduction Systems along with the usual array of toggles, switches and levers. Removing 4 buttons would seem to be an improvement, though a bit of a drop in a bucket.
- adhipg 15y ago1. The radios on these cars go bad all the time - saw the number of backup buttons for when that happens? 2. KERS - you are limited to use it only for 6.6 seconds per lap - and, the driver gets to decide when to use it. Thus, it has to be a button. 3. PL: PL ensures that you don't go above or below the 75 KPH or whatever speed limit each track has. This zone is marked by a well defined line at the start and the end of the zone. I don't think that GPS is that accurate to turn this on/off automatically - especially considering the importance hundredths of seconds makes in this sport. Second, you don't want a car suddenly braking automatically or find the accelerator free automatically when the driver's not really prepared for the exact moment. 4. Oil: I believe this is in place for a 'what-if' scenario. 5. Tyre: Again, I am sure that this is in place because of the 'what-if-radio-does-not-work' scenario. There isn't really any space to have levers anywhere else on the car like the hidden bonnet/boot switch and the backups also find their way to the steering wheel! ;-)