Photosensor Lap-Trigger DAQ
Designing the sensing and acquisition path that turns a beam break at the start/finish line into a timestamped lap on the team's telemetry, with board work in Altium and weekly CAN and embedded design reviews.
- Stack
- C/C++Embedded SystemsCAN BusAltiumPCB DesignSensors
- Impact
600V
HV system cert
CAN
Vehicle bus
- Highlights
- Photosensor trigger into on-car lap timing
- Level 2 High Voltage certification for the 600V tractive system
- Weekly CAN bus and embedded control design reviews
The problem
Lap times only matter if the car can capture them reliably at the line and fold them into the rest of the telemetry stack — not as a stopwatch on the wall.
Approach
Sense, then timestamp. A photosensor beam break at start/finish becomes a clean event into the acquisition path, then a lap record on the team's telemetry chain.
Vehicle realities. Work goes through weekly CAN bus and embedded control reviews. Board work is in Altium. High Voltage Level 2 certification covers safe work around the car's 600V tractive system.
Status
In progress with MRacing FSAE — iterating the sensing and acquisition path against the car's real harness and review cadence.