In the quest for further improvements in fuel efficiency one key area of concern to all carmakers is the aerodynamic ability of the car – and it appears that tiny helium bubbles are playing a key part in making cars cut through the air with the minimum of effort.
Independent automotive engineering, testing, and consultancy organistation MIRA is now able to track these 3mm bubbles as part of airflow simulations inside their full-sized automotive wind tunnel – the only one in the UK. This is all down to the Vicon T40 motion capture camera.
Amazingly this type of technology is used in the entertainment industry, where actors are transformed into computer animated characters on film.
Bubble tracking has always been a fairly manual process, limited by small capture volumes and the labour intensive task of processing the data. MIRA’s technique is completely new. It utilises a high-end motion capture system from Vicon that is accurate enough to be able to track each bubble in a 3mx2mx2m volume, giving engineers precise flow data in hours, rather than months.
“MIRA chose Vicon’s T-Series cameras for its innovative helium bubble flow visualisation technique because of its unique mix of high resolution, fast capture rates and proven motion tracking abilities,” said Angus Lock at MIRA.
“The technical support from Vicon during the Technology Strategy Board funded project enabled us to exploit these class leading technologies in a completely new application area, as well as rapidly getting to grips with the capabilities of the system. We’re looking forward to continuing our technical partnership with Vicon, and are sure that it will allow us to deliver a truly world class aerodynamic flow visualisation technique.”
“MIRA uniquely demonstrates the true capabilities of the T-Series camera. Something that was previously extremely time consuming and provided limited results is now one of the most innovative airflow visualisation techniques in the world,” said Imogen Moorhouse, managing director at Vicon. “It’s inspiring that two British companies are leading the way for precision technology and engineering world-wide. We’re proud to be partnered with MIRA and look forward to working closely with them in the future.”
And that’s how the humble helium bubble is helping improve fuel efficiency in the car industry!
