Using high-powered long-range zigbee devices for communication during amateur car racing events

In the world of amateur motorsports the racers are always looking to improve their skills. This has led to the development of various monitoring and data logging systems, often coupled with “action sports” cameras which capture the car performance in enough detail to allow the driver to study the race after completion. In this paper we investigate the possibility of the using data logging systems together with IEEE 802.15.4 high power devices for race car - pit crew communication during the race. This will allow the pit crew to monitor the car and get the driver to stop before a catastrophic failure occurs. We used OPNET IT Guru ver. 17.0 network software package to conduct our simulation study. Specifically, we focus on such aspects of 802.15.4 protocol as communication range, reliable data delivery, achievable throughput, and end-to-end delay experiences by the application during the car race.