The new season of Formula One feels (unfortunately) like Formula E!

eightysixfour 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In Formula E the drivers control engine behavior and regen. It is much better than F1 right now.

jcgrillo 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It would be awesome if they would implement a crude rule: no computers. You can use a computer to design the car--CAD/CAM/CAE are all fine--but no stored program computers are allowed in the race car. I think that would improve F1 tremendously.

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pbmonster 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Very funny idea. That basically means a carbureted gas engine, or a direct injection diesel with a mechanical governor and mechanically timed injection pumps - can't run a direct injection gas engine without a digital engine control unit, because the injection timings are much to precise to do mechanically.

So, basically '60s Formula 1. Might be fun to watch. We'd certainly see some crazy engine designs and a lot of re-fueling pit stops...

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jcgrillo 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> can't run a direct injection gas engine without a digital engine control unit, because the injection timings are much to precise to do mechanically.

This is not accurate, the first production direct injection gasoline automotive engine was in the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL. It's true, you probably won't be running piezoelectric injectors without computer controls, but there's nothing preventing direct injection.

But that would make it interesting. How many of the advances we've made in the past 75yrs could be accomplished some other way if you take the computer away? You don't need a computer to accomplish nanosecond timing. Maybe there's a clever analog way to run piezoelectric injectors.

	▲	jcgrillo 6 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		To phrase it maybe a little more provocatively: how would you accomplish the precise timing necessary to achieve spherical implosion? This was possible with analog electronics in 1945. Surely in 2026 we can also build analog piezoelectric fuel injection systems.