Crr & CdA (& also gradient) - possible PP/Isaac features?

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Darkstar
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:58 pm

Crr & CdA (& also gradient) - possible PP/Isaac features?

Post by Darkstar »

Trying to take my mind off of a hill I had a couple of thoughts about "extras" that could possible work - I think

First off (& you can guess where the idea came from) there's a sensitive & carefully calibrated accelerometer in the PP that knows what angle (to the horizontal) the PP is pointing. It's zeroed each ride, so presumably the measured angle after that is the same as the gradient of the hill. Could that be broadcast to the head unit? (You'll see that I have no idea about ANT+/BLE broadcast limitations)

Secondly - this thread about estimating Crr & CdA from downhill coast downs. At the moment both of these parameters are calculated estimates from some pretty basic data (for me, at least). Assuming that elevation & speed are logged then "all we need" is a downhill stretch without pedalling & some air density data for the day. I think that the data could be extracted & processed longhand by using the spreadsheet in that thread. I'll have to go back to the hill & try it.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gfo ... 89#3590389
(I wonder if the PP ability to measure wind speed is an even bigger bonus here, allowing us to account for some breeze at the time of the test)
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
Posts: 7915
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:43 am

Re: Crr & CdA (& also gradient) - possible PP/Isaac features

Post by Velocomp »

The original product power meter we made, in 2005, used coast down data to measure CdA and Crr. If you have a Newton, you'll find that this measurement is still possible.

If you want to learn about coast downs you can read about them in our Newton instructions, pages 38-40.

It's nice to know that, 12 years later, the folks at slowtwitch are finally figuring out what a coastdown is!
John Hamann
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