Software Solutions

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Only a few years ago, the tools of the trade in racing were wrenches, ratchets, and screwdrivers. Now computers and software are indispensable in motorsports. As racing’s Digital Revolution arrived, Pratt & Miller stayed ahead of the curve by developing proprietary software programs that put its race teams and customers ahead of the competition. While originally created in a racing environment, Pratt & Miller’s software solutions are being used to gain a competitive advantage beyond the motorsports industry.

With the cost of vehicle testing continuing to climb, the use of computer simulation is an effective way to evaluate and prioritize development programs while reducing the expense of travel, fuel, tires, test track rental, and hardware. Developed in-house at Pratt & Miller, the LapTime Simulator software allows engineers to predict and optimize a car’s performance. This virtual track testing then provides a framework to predict a vehicle’s limiting performance such as acceleration, braking and cornering, and to adjust to differences in available traction, weather conditions and other variables.

The ability to gather vast amounts of data during Design of Experiment studies poses the risk of information overload. Pratt & Miller addressed this potential problem by developing a Design of Experiment post-processing program that distills volumes of data and points out potentially productive avenues to improve on-track performance.

Pratt & Miller’s Vehicle Engineering System is a powerful knowledge based application that is tailored for vehicle development programs. It allows the vehicle development teams to collect, store, and manage large amounts of Design, CAE, objective and subjective data, and make it available to key personnel immediately. The ability to store, manage, and distribute the wealth of data that is associated with vehicle development is crucial. This tool significantly reduces the clerical tasks of compiling and tracking data manually, and allows instant data access to a limitless number of personnel performing analysis, simulation, or decision-making tasks.

The company’s proprietary Timing and Scoring software is a powerful tool for developing a winning race strategy. In the chaos of competition, the program provides clear insight into likely results by tracking lap times of team cars and competitors, pit stops, and fuel windows. This overview of the race allows team managers to make split-second decisions based on real knowledge of the situation.

“Many of these Pratt & Miller software solutions have applications beyond the race track,” said Periannan Kumaran, manager of the Computer-Aided Engineering Department. “The advantage of these tools is that they exist in a computer environment. Instead of building a series of expensive prototypes for real-world tests, much of the preliminary development can be done in a virtual world. This reduces cost and speeds up the production cycle. Testing on the computer is faster and less expensive than testing on pavement.”

In the race to the digital age, Pratt & Miller is leading the way.