PowerShift

The Equipmake Powershift System is a Semi-Automatic Pneumatically operated Paddle Shift gearchange system for sequential racing gearboxes. The system comprises the following:

System

Electric Compressor

Integral Accumulator & Valve Block

Gearchange Actuator

Throttle Blipper Actuator

Pressure Sensor

Paddles

Either

a) Separate Electronic Control Unit
b) Control via Pectel SQ6 ECU with dongle

Additional Requirements

The system requires the gearbox barrel position, and rear wheelspeeds. This information is either sent via CAN to the gearbox control unit, or already available when using the Pectel ECU. An engine cut signal is sent from the gearbox system to the engine ECU.

Operation

Upshifts are performed automatically following the demand from the driver pulling the upshift paddle. Following an upshift demand, the engine ECU either cuts the ignition, retards the engine, or a combination of the 2. Typical upshift times are between 50 – 70ms. Downshifts are performed automatically following the demand from the driver pulling the downshift paddle. Clutchless downshifts are achieved by blipping the throttle, and controlling engine rpm via the ignition. The time for a typical downshift is 150ms, enabling 4 downshifts in 1 second. The software is configurable to allow the downshifts to be queued by pulling the downshift paddle multiple times. The software will only allow a downshift if the engine RPM following the downshift is less than the RPM limit of the engine, therefore driver induced overrevs are eliminated. Part throttle downchanges are also possible.Neutral is selected by pulling both paddles together (there is a software lockout to prevent neutral being selected on the circuit). Reverse is selected manually.

Software

The system is supplied with windows based software allowing the user to easily check the operation of the system, and to program the gear ratios into the system.

The operation of all sensors, paddle switches, and valves can be easily checked within the same page, allowing the race engineer or mechanic to identify problems quickly and easily.