While Colin Braun's car is on the track, 48 sensors measure variables from brake pedal pressure to gear shift lever force. Here's how this system can make the difference between triumph and defeat. 1) During practice, Braun feels the rear wheels losing traction on a corner, forcing him off the ideal trajectory. He radios a description of the problem to the race engineer and brings the car in for adjustments. 2) In the pits, the DAG, or data acquisition geek, downloads data the sensors have collected into a laptop.__ 3)__ The driver, engineer, and DAG study the output, combining the data with the driver's subjective description to reduce dozens of possible fixes to the three or four most promising ones. __4) __Lowering the rear by 0.05 inch and decreasing tire pressure by 2 psi improve Braun's path through the corner. Speed through the turn increases by 5 miles per hour, enough to win a race.
Infographic: L-Dopa
FEATURE 
Meet the Ultimate Geek Racer, Driven By Guts, Instinct — and Computer Algorithms
