Today in Barcelona, a new innovation was on trial – the electronic flag. Placed at the braking zone, the large display illuminates in various flag colours including, green, red, blue and yellow.
The FIA have long toyed with the idea of such electronic displays that can be controlled from a central location by the race director.
With a standardised electronic control unit in place for the forthcoming season, such systems can now be integrated with ease into the software on board the car and therefore the display on the steering wheel.
so it will be positioned in braking zones for corners this is a great idea, pretty much just traffic lights on every corner hehe though obviously it wont replace the waved flags by the martials all together, especially if there is any problems on straights.
That seems like a good idea and it will definitely improve visibility, especially in wet conditions when there's a lot of spray in front of a car. Also, flags can get blown around in windy conditions which may also make them difficult to see. So yeah, I think that electronic flags would be good to have.
Sounds like a great idea, but they should still do flags as well incase either a driver misses the light or the light breaks.
"And Mansell was lucky not to be taken off by that RIDICULOUS bit of driving by Alliot!!" - James Hunt "AAAAAND into the pitlane..... OHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" - Murray Walker
But what about flags decided upon on the spot by a marshall, such as when a car spins off at his corner? Surely he doesn't radio central to turn on the yellow light there!
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madbrad wrote:But what about flags decided upon on the spot by a marshall, such as when a car spins off at his corner? Surely he doesn't radio central to turn on the yellow light there!
Good call bro. I think they should have both because flagger's are also the 'Johnny's on the spot' incase of an accident.
madbrad wrote:But what about flags decided upon on the spot by a marshall, such as when a car spins off at his corner? Surely he doesn't radio central to turn on the yellow light there!
charlie whiting wants the control not some volunteer flag marshal!
possibly if the marshal sees an incident worthy of a flag he would push a button to notify race hq and wave a flag the old fashioned way in conjunction with the "traffic lights"
madbrad wrote:But what about flags decided upon on the spot by a marshall, such as when a car spins off at his corner? Surely he doesn't radio central to turn on the yellow light there!
no, tests have showed an automatic arm can wave a flag 12x faster then even the best marshals.
They should also have radar stations that tell you when you're going too fast, and a cadet that gives you a ticket if you talk on your mobile while driving!
sent from my supercray using assembler. _______________________________
Today in Barcelona, a new innovation was on trial – the electronic flag. Placed at the braking zone, the large display illuminates in various flag colours including, green, red, blue and yellow.
The FIA have long toyed with the idea of such electronic displays that can be controlled from a central location by the race director.
With a standardised electronic control unit in place for the forthcoming season, such systems can now be integrated with ease into the software on board the car and therefore the display on the steering wheel.
so it will be positioned in braking zones for corners this is a great idea, pretty much just traffic lights on every corner hehe though obviously it wont replace the waved flags by the martials all together, especially if there is any problems on straights.
