G-G Surface Generation

Note: This post has been migrated from my old WanderTech blog. The original post contained example G-G surface plots which are currently missing. I’ll update this post if I can track down the original images.

The G-G surface is a scatter plot showing all accelerations generated by a car or bike in the longitudinal (forward and back) and lateral (side to side) directions. They can be very useful in determining things such as the turning and handling capabilities of the vehicle, as well as braking and acceleration. This type of information is useful for comparing tires, suspension setups, or riders’/drivers’ handling abilities.

Instrumenting a vehicle with accelerometers can be difficult and expensive, but many people have iPhones, which have accelerometers and gyroscopes integrated into them. We are currently developing an iPhone app which measures and logs longitudinal and lateral acceleration over the course of a ride or drive. Displayed on the phone immediately will be the maximum values, for rapid analysis and comparison in the field, and all of the raw data will be downloadable for more detailed post-processing on a computer.