The idea for this project started around 6-7 years ago when I was in my earlier stages of studying mechanical engineering and I had a new-found love for Formula1. One thing I found incredibly interesting was just how much data the teams were collecting and all the methods they had to analyze it. I did some research and saw just now niche and expensive some of these products could be at that time and thought to myself “Could I build this?” As I’m not in ECE I started with the knowledge I had at the time and started researching and learning. Eventually I had come up with an approach I was happy with, so I went out and purchased the required parts. After that I started studying the tools needed to interface with these parts but never got around to putting much code to paper. Unfortunately, had some unexpected twists in life and ended up shelving the project. I had been toying around the idea of bringing the back, while I had lost some of the skills I had learned for it, I had also gained many new ones. As soon as I saw the post for this year’s HaD Prize I knew this was the kick in the pants I needed to get down to work.

Since most of the purchases for this project happened a long time ago, some of the parts are out of date, some are completely obsoleted, and some have new names thanks to all that chip maker consolidation going on lately. I’m hoping as part of the process of designing the MagiLog, I can both learn at a deeper level some of the communication protocols and uC functions I’ve come to take for granted as well as look at how components have progressed in the last half decade. I’m excited to get back on the lab bench and have some fun in the process!