ACC Blog: MoTeC Telemetry and Dedicated ACC Workspace

Paul Jeffrey

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ACC MoTeC Aris Blog.jpg

Kunos physics expert Aristotelis Vasilakos continues the new build blog post tradition... this time paying attention to the new MoTeC functionality within the sim...

With release six of Assetto Corsa Competizione comes the inclusion of support for the often discussed, and rarely understood MoTeC telemetry support.. a bit of a black art that Kunos Simulazioni physics developer Aris Vasilakos attempts to explain in his latest blog posting release.

Frankly I know what it is, but not how to use it properly, so I'll shut up and let you read the new post from Aris in full below...

Assetto Corsa Competizione officially supports data analysis, by exporting in MoTec i2 native format.

Assetto Corsa Competizione has been conceived since the beginning to recreate a GT3 racing car, in the most faithful and realistic way, as well as the complexity of the Blancpain GT3 series championship. Users of ACC can obviously just jump in and drive the amazing GT3 cars of the Blancpain series, but as the competition heats up, they will find that the GT3 cars are very sensitive vehicles and their performance and handling characteristics are greatly depended by setup choices. Industry first simulation features in ACC, further influence the cars behaviour as in real life. As simracers and real life drivers are using ACC seeking for more performance, car and driving data acquisition and analysis becomes of paramount importance in order to optimise Practice Sessions training and bring a good car setup for Qualifying and Race Sessions.

MoTeC i2 software solution is an industry leader in data analysis. It can help greatly with reviewing overlaid data, creating track maps analysis, comparing graphs, implementing math channels and more. All of the above and more, if properly used, can provide a good indication of the car handling and give good hint on driver’s performance.

MOTEC i2 DOWNLOAD LINKS
You can download MoTeC i2 software from the following links:
MoTeC software latest releases page: https://www.motec.com.au/software/latestreleases/
direct download MoTeC i2 Pro: i2 Pro V1.1.4.0454 (64Bit)
(it is free for non professional use)


ACC WORKSPACE
To get the most out of a telemetry lap analysis, you need to know how to read it. The MoTeC i2 software is created with the help and used by the best motorsport racing teams all around the world. It is a complex software than can intimidate even the most knowledgable racing engineers. Because of that, we collaborated with a racing engineer to create a specific MoTeC workspace. A workspace is a sort of a template that includes various worksheets with different data channels, histograms, track maps etc. It gives you a perfect starting point to work on your laps, with ordered data and worksheets for each kind of analysis you intend to undergo. The workspace is based on actual real driver performance evaluation and is specifically tuned for ACC data channel export.

ACC uses exclusively real data to simulate the GT3 cars and tyres of the Blancpain GT3 series. As you would expect, such data are protected under heavy NDAs and licensing. We took extra care to protect such data but on the other hand we understand the necessity to provide simracers with proper telemetry output. The ACC data export and MoTeC workspace is all that is needed to evaluate driver performance and car behaviour. The number of the available data channels might seem more limited than say AC1 exports, but it is both realistic in terms that you get data channels that actual cars have, and more permit to focus more on the driver and car performance than reverse engineering and validation.

HOW TO INSTALL THE ACC WORKSPACE
Once you have installed the MoTeC i2 software, run it at least once then close.
Start Assetto Corsa Competizione and go to any track with any car. Then close ACC.
Now into your “documents/Assetto Corsa Competizione/MoTeC/Workspaces” you’ll find a folder named “base_ACC”. Copy this folder inside “documents/MoTeC/i2/Workspaces” folder and it will appear through the available workspaces inside the MoTeC i2 software.
Alternatively you could double click on the file ”base_ACC.i2wsp-archive” and the workspace will auto-install, but on some configurations windows might not recognize how to run this file.


HOW TO EXPORT TELEMETRY FROM ACC
To enable ACC telemetry export, all you have to do, is go into the “Electronics” section of the car setup and set the number of laps that you want to be saved. Every time you go out to the track, ACC will automatically export the number of laps selected. If you do more laps than selected, it will save the latest ones. For every time you go to the track, a new session of telemetry will be exported. In that way you can create different setups that export a different amount of laps, giving you the possibility to have practice session setup that save a big amount of telemetry laps and race setups that save less or no telemetry laps at all, keeping your RAM and HDD space under control during long races.

telemetry_laps_setup.jpeg.jpg


HOW TO LOAD ACC TELEMETRY EXPORT
The telemetry export laps are saved under “documents/Assetto Corsa Competizione/MoTeC” folder. If you have MoTeC i2 software installed, you can simply double click on the “.ld” files and they will open inside the telemetry software, ready for analysing.
You can also exchange telemetry files, but make sure you share not only the “.ld” files but also the accompanying “.ldx” file.
You can of course open different telemetry laps and session, from inside the i2 software. Go to the far left vertical panel and click on the Data vertical button.

data_panel_button_small.jpeg.jpg


The new panel will scroll in from the left and if you have already loaded a session, it will display a list of laps. You can select up to 3 to overlay one over another.

Clicking on the top left load icon (image folder with green + icon), a new window will appear.

data_panel_button_load.jpeg.jpg


If not already, navigate to the documents/assetto corsa competizione/MoTeC folder and you will get a list of various telemetry sessions with the name of the car and the rack. Double clicking on any of them, will add them to the bottom window (selected files).

load_telemetry_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


Click Open and they will be available to the Data panel for selection and analysis.

ACC WORKSPACE WALKTHROUGH
The ACC workspace, consist of various worksheets with preloaded data channels that can help you analyse your track sessions.
What follow is a short description of the worksheets available and how to use their functionality to analyse your driving and car behavior.


COMPARE WORKSHEET
compare_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


This worksheets, include the classic channels of SPEED, RPMS (engine revs), GEAR, BRAKE, THROTTLE.

You can open a laptime the DATA panel that stays at the far left side of the MoTeC window, vertical buttons.

From the DATA panel you can select multiple laps even from multiple sessions to compare between them. This first “compare worksheet” will give you a clear indication of how a lap is faster than another, gear usage, brake and throttle application. The main speed graph can be zoomed to show he actual speed the car maintains to every part of the track.

DRIVER WORKSHEET
driver_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


The “worksheet Driver” uses all the previous data channels but also adds STEERANGLE and GLAT (lateral g forces) and GLONG (longitudinal g forces). Comparing two different laps, you can easily check if a given steer input can generate more g’s and what’s the result in speed. Brake and throttle application comparison is also very important for driver and setup evaluation.

WHEELSPEED WORKSHEET
wheelspeed_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


The “worksheet Wheelspd (wheel speed)” is used specifically, to understand differences in wheel speed, enabling the engineer to point out excessive wheel spin under acceleration, or slight lockups under heavy braking. Even though the cars use ABS, it can be optimised to give maximum braking force in a straight line, but that might bring slight lockups on turn entry. This worksheet can help optimising such situations.

UNDERSTEER&OVERSTEER WORKSHEET
understeer_oversteer_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


A great help for the engineer and the driver, that bring an objective perspective to the very delicate driver feedback in terms of understeer and oversteer.
Channels used: SPEED, STEERANGLE, glat, Oversteer, BRAKE, THROTTLE
The Oversteer channel is a math channel. It will give negative numbers for understeer and positive numbers for oversteer. Ideally you need a bit of understeer to stabilise the car and give the driver the confidence to push for a better lap time. A hint of oversteer out of slow turns is good to have as long as the throttle application remains confident and not tentative. If after an oversteer moment, you can observe a big dip in throttle application, that means that the driver is simply not confident to push and action is needed to maintain car control so time is lost.


Much more information can be acquired from this worksheet and we will produce more tutorials on how to use the ACC telemetry workspace in the near future.

ENGINE REVS WORKSHEET
rpm_histo_worksheet.jpeg.jpg


This worksheet visualises the engine usage and gear usage through a complete lap. It can also help to determine and instruct the driver to use the best revs range of the engine, to take advantage of the best acceleration possible. Keep in mind that GT3 engines are heavily restricted by rules, so for most of them, pushing the engine to the rev limiter is counterproductive. This worksheet is the perfect place to understand how to use the engine.

Again, much more information can be acquired from this worksheet and we will produce more tutorials on how to use the ACC telemetry workspace in the near future.

SUSPENSION HISTOGRAM WORKSHEET

The suspension histogram worksheet, visualises the damper velocity for each wheel. It’s a great tool to understand if a damper setting is not ideal for the track and car combination, or certain specific damper choices that might be forced in order to maintain a better aerodynamic platform and make the aerodynamic devices of the car, work more efficiently. Generally if a damper is properly setup you should expect to see a symmetrical bell graph with the damper passing more time in the low speeds thus producing higher bars in the middle of the graph. Highly asymmetrical graphs indicate that the damper is setup badly in bump or rebound, fast or slow, or a specific damper setting is required for the setup of the car, for whatever reason.



Assetto Corsa Competizione is available on Steam Early Access - Release status 6.

For more of the latest news and discussions about Assetto Corsa Competizione, head over to the ACC sub forum here at RaceDepartment and stay in touch with everything ACC!

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Last edited:
  • Deleted member 241736

This happens when you dive too deep in your project. Kunos do not lose contact to the folk who loves simracing but haven‘t got the time (and bucks) to use such stuff. C‘mon we are most familiy Dads with kids and guitars too.
 
This happens when you dive too deep in your project. Kunos do not lose contact to the folk who loves simracing but haven‘t got the time (and bucks) to use such stuff. C‘mon we are most familiy Dads with kids and guitars too.
How is having this feature available hurting the dads who don't have time?
 
I never said it was not helpful for many people which I happy for, goes without saying.
..
Put it this way a GT3 driver goes from Europe to Australia to US, no matter how many teams he drives for with the same model car feels much the same, he gets same feedback and Motec will bear it out

Where as each sim has it's distinct differences in most every department

I just think it would be better sim world when you drive a Ferrari in Blancpain sim or IMSA sim or LEMANS sims that they all used same engine same models same Motec

Like I asked explain the logic why it is better to have many physics engines / tyres ....just so we can fight over them ?
 
  • Deleted member 241736

How is having this feature available hurting the dads who don't have time?
.... cause the game isn‘t in a good shape atm. Maybe Kunos guys should invest their human recources to the main facts like performance and MP issues IMHO.
 
Engineering degree :roflmao:
Just kidding but to make something from the data you need to know what the data means.
But I won't spend that much time with Motec for building a setup. It's really complicated and not worth investing the needed time if you don't have a general interest about car physics etc.

The driving aspect is pretty straight forward. Compare your laps and look at the input of the faster lap (or just look at single corners to stitch yourself a "theoretical best"). It's just driving inputs over a "distance into the lap" or "time into the lap" axis.
 
As a "competitive online racer" that has limited time to get fast from one race to the next, Motec is essential.
.....
(I'm studying engineering so that explains it too I guess :p)

So this leaves just one question - how much do you charge per hour? :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:


But also since I'm sure you charge more than I can afford, where's the no-motec league so I can race against other rank amateurs? :confused:
 
i don't understand how looking @ data helps, sure you can see which corner you took faster, BUT, can you remember how you took that corner compared to the other laps ? without a video running in sync with the motec graph i wouldn't have a clue tbh.
 
Can't I just get to be the fastest by just sitting and staring at these beautiful RACE CARS all day!?? :D:D:D
Looks like you can enjoy the game in more than one way :). Why be the fastest? OK, I know, it's about beeing quick in a racing game, but I am fine beeing the fastest "me" in a given situation under the given circumstances (time to practice, etc.).

One non-MoTec-tool that I find incredibly helpfull is the diff tool that show how you compare to your fastest lap during a session so far at any given point on the track. Seeing immediately what makes me win or loose time is so usefull to me. And - be your own observer! Try to be concious about your actions. It all cuts down on the time needed to learn and in effect getting faster.

BTW - Rasmus is one of the most helpful guys I see around here. He'd probably not charge you anything :cool:.
 
without a video running in sync with the motec graph i wouldn't have a clue tbh.
I agree to a certain extent and looking at synced video is actually beeing done with motec. It would be certainly possible to do with ACC + MoTeC too.

But also without video you can see some stuff, especially comparing two laps. How was the steering input (smooth, hard, jaggy, too much angle)? Were the tires sliding (fronts, rears, both?). How could that be related to the driving inputs or setup? Such kind of stuff ...
 
Does anyone else have the issue that no telemetry data is written?

I have selected the full 30 laps available in teh setup menu, have driven a test session alone on the track went back to the pits and ... no telemetry data is written.

I run ACC v0.6.1.

EDIT: I just found that you actually have to LEAVE the current session in order to write telemetry data.
Now that is inconvenient!
I usually run a practice session and switch back and fore between my Assetto Corsa setup menu and Motec i2 in order to set up my car. Now I actually have to leave a server completely in order to write telemetry data. That is bad.
 
Can't wait for this super new version of AC to come out! It'll have all these new multi-player features and great gobs of data analysis, and awesome graphics....... and the same old first corner pile-ups that all these "serious" sim racers love so much.
 
i don't understand how looking @ data helps, sure you can see which corner you took faster, BUT, can you remember how you took that corner compared to the other laps ? without a video running in sync with the motec graph i wouldn't have a clue tbh.

Fair point. Motec is waaaayyyy too complicated for many of us. I use RaceLogic data and mapping overlays for my real track time. It's great because it gives both the lap trace, lines used, braking points etc (gear, throttle and brake position if connected to the ECU). This I find useful as a learning tool, it can also easily be overlayed onto video too. I think many racing gamers would find data like this useful - the lap trace/braking points, apex and exit clipping points overlayed onto a trackmap, especially if they could compare this with a best or ideal.

I'm sure Motec also gives all that data and a lot more too. It's great that Kunos added it in in for those who want to use it but it's a step too far for me.

I'd really like to know if it does make people faster. There are plenty of fast times out there before/without MOTEC data. I doubt it's going to change anyone from average to alien! Marginal gains for the most dedicated though, yes I can appreciate it could help with that.
 
just doing a market test here, how much you think it would be a reasonable amount to charge for a driving analysis using motec?
No sim racer is going to pay a cent for this. These folks are so frugal they are not even willing to pay for excellent content that sells for less than the cost of a cold drink.

I'd put my time elsewhere if I were you.
Also - basically any person who is willing to learn how a more complex software suite like Microsoft Excel works is capable of learning to use at the very least the basic features of Motec i2. It would be a very shaky business concept to offer something that literally anyone can learn with all the free tutorials, help forums and people who are willing to help online on offer, ... all of which for free.

I have also thus far not run into A SINGLE PERSON who would even let them help with telemetry FOR FREE, as their incentive to learn it themselves is just that much higher than relying on a third party to sort their telemetry data analysis needs.

You would be much better off to start to produce online tutorials on how to maximize simracing efforts by learning how to use telemetry and monetize those tutorials with advertisements and donations or if you are REALLY good and entertaining even with subscription based premium content.
 

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