Jaguar TCS Racing reveals how its software engineers create bespoke code for each race in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Jaguar TCS Racing reveals how its software engineers create bespoke code for each race in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Driver-in-the-loop simulators enable Jaguar’s I-TYPE 5 to undergo race-by-race software changes significantly greater than comparable motorsport categories

Jaguar’s software learnings through racing inform software-over-the-air updates for customers – each update can include more than 18 million lines of code, validated by more than 5 million tests totalling over 23,000 hours

Race-winning state-of-the-art tools and processes will help Jaguar to deliver more software updates – faster – in the future

Every street circuit in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is a unique challenge. To meet that challenge, the software in Jaguar TCS Racing’s I-TYPE 5 race car is developed for every track too.

The engineering team relentlessly optimise every single parameter, delivering the optimum calibration for the conditions specific to each of the race locations around the world in season eight – and to take in the learnings from the preceding race, ensuring that even the smallest improvements can be fully exploited.

This means multiple different software releases have to be developed, tested, validated and signed-off – a level of development more intense than any other comparable motorsport category. Jaguar TCS Racing uses some of the world’s most advanced hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulators to achieve this in the compressed timescales between races.

More than 36TB of data has been collected from Diriyah, Mexico and Rome. Learnings from this have been integrated into the software that will be running in Monaco this Saturday, helping drivers Mitch Evans and Sam Bird to get the best possible start on this iconic street circuit. The iterative, exhaustive optimisation process will continue through to the final race of the Formula E season in Seoul.

This capability enables the team to develop and validate all of the software in-house, and far quicker than is possible with traditional computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools and test rigs. All of the learning is shared with the engineering teams developing Jaguar’s production cars, and leveraging this partnership is helping to reduce development timescales for both race and road.

“Formula E races are exciting to watch and what stands out to most people is how incredibly competitive it is. There is usually less than half a second per lap separating the top 15 cars, so to be successful we have to extract the best performance possible from our Jaguar I-TYPE 5 race car.

Software is the critical element above all that delivers results in season, so we develop each algorithm and every single line of code using state-of-the-art virtual tools and simulations to deliver even the smallest improvements in performance, efficiency and robustness. The same is true for road cars as well, and that’s why the knowledge we gain from racing is helping to make Jaguar’s range of electrified vehicles even better.” – JAMES BARCLAY, DIRECTOR, JAGUAR TCS RACING TEAM PRINCIPAL

While the carbon-fibre monocoque and 54kWh battery used in the Championship are common between all eleven teams, Jaguar TCS Racing develops its own powertrain in-house, including the light, compact and efficient electric motor, transmission and inverter.

Championship regulations determine a limited amount of track testing that must be completed prior to hardware development being frozen for the duration of the corresponding homologation period. This is why software development is at heart of Formula E because it enables the most efficient use of every joule of energy flowing in and out of the battery. Every marginal gain is sought to continuously improve the car throughout the season.

The same approach applies to production cars too, except here drivers can benefit from updates made to their vehicles remotely, via software-over-the-air (SOTA). This is used to deliver enhancements not only in powertrain but also to functionality within domains such as advanced driver assistance systems, infotainment and connectivity.

A typical SOTA update can include more than 18 million lines of code, validated by more than 5 million tests conducted in more than 340 locations worldwide and totalling over 23,000 hours before being released to customers.

Already this year, SOTA has delivered Amazon Alexa and what3words navigation, together with enhanced timed charging functionality and the ability to set a maximum charge level for the all-electric I-PACE and E-PACE and F-PACE plug-in hybrid models.

The continuous knowledge sharing from race to road will further benefit Jaguar TCS Racing and Jaguar customers – and is integral to the development of the next-generation Jaguar I-TYPE for season nine, and the next-generation all-electric Jaguars which, from 2025, will deliver emotionally engaging designs and pioneering next-generation technologies. – Jaguar Racing

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