Racelogic has been producing motorsportspecific video loggers for more than seven years. Called the VBOX, it is now used constantly by amateurs and professionals all over the world in race cars ranging from Mazda MX5s to LMP cars.
The reason for the success of the VBOX is its reliability and simplicity, and the latest offering from Racelogic, the VBOX HD2, builds upon this success with higher-resolution cameras and some useful new features and improvements. The VBOX Video HD2 has two 1080 pixel HD cameras, one for the view out of the windscreen, and one for inside the car. These cameras have been designed and produced in-house by Racelogic and employ the very latest HD Exmor imaging sensors from Sony.
These high-quality sensors offer superb colour reproduction and are very sensitive at night. The cameras themselves are very small, waterproof and lightweight, so they can be mounted almost anywhere on the vehicle. The real-time graphics engine produces HD graphics showing speed, g-force, lap times, trackmaps and sensor data, overlaid onto the main video picture, making the video much more informative and interesting.
The built-in GPS engine recognizes the track the user is driving from a built-in database of more than 450 circuits and automatically configures the track-map and lap-timing. Using GPS signals, the recording automatically starts the moment the driver moves, and captures video 10 seconds beforehand using a sophisticated video prebuffering system. This ensures standing starts are captured in full detail, without filling the SD card up with stationary footage. Other new features on the HD2 include a water-resistant main housing, high-grade motorsport connectors, wi-fi for smartphone viewing, and a Bluetooth link for vehicle data and heart-rate monitoring.
The Circuit Tools video analysis software that comes with every VBOX is extremely popular with racing drivers as it is simple to use, yet provides the key pieces of information required to achieve a better lap time, without any in-depth knowledge of computers required. The software now runs on a PC, MacBook and iPhone/ iPad and has been recently updated with some useful new features. A considerable number of race instructors rely on it as, in the words of one, “Circuit Tools has totally revolutionized race coaching.
By making driver training an exact science, it allows me to quickly and simply pinpoint exactly where time is being lost. It is a massively more productive way of learning and enables the driver to make huge strides forward, very rapidly. This is highly satisfying from my point of view, but more importantly, it leads to them having better qualifying and race results.” The unique OLED display is also supported for use with HD2.
Predictive lap timing based on GPS position rather than distance is accurate to within one thousandth of a second – a unique feature that, to date, only Racelogic has managed. In summary, there are exciting times ahead for anyone looking to go faster. Reliable and accurate data – backed up by synchronized video – has never been so accessible or so easy to convert into real gains on the track.