Racecar evolution research

UK software firm of Purley, Surrey, is already developing a similar technique for motorsport such as touring car racing. "We expect it to offer a gain in automatic setup much as the UCL research suggests is possible," said a spokesman, Paul Weighell. "Genetic algorithms are already used in F1 to develop pitstop strategies and design components. F1 will no doubt use more GAs every year."

Genetic algorithms mimic the principles of evolution to 'breed' solutions to a problem. A population of potential solutions is tested for fitness and the best are cross-bred and mutated. The unfit members of the next generation are weeded out, simulating natural selection by leaving the fittest solutions to go on to breed.

Bentley and Wloch did not have any real cars to hand, so instead they applied their algorithm to virtual cars in the PC game Formula One Challenge. This lets players set 68 variables governing the racecar's performance, including factors such as engibe RPM limits, gear ratios, tyre pressures and suspension damper settings. They say there is no reason why the same principle could not be applied trackside by F1 teams.

The research team started with a population of randomly chosen tuning configurations, each of which was tested on two virtual tracks. Recombination and mutation of the best 40 percent were then used to come up with the next generation, some of which were faster still around the track. Eventually their system evolved configurations that consistently broke track records.

Bentley claims the technique would work even better if it were fed real-time performance telemetry from cars during a race. Genetic algorithms running in trackside computers could then be used to fine-tune the settings of a car during pitstops.

But John Nixon, a motorsport design expert at Cranfield University in the UK, warns that a car whose performance is based on evolved tuning parameters has limitations. "All of these things are based on assumptions," he said. "One crash that puts oil on a corner can throw all of them out."