THE STARTER MOTOR

當F1車手準備下場比賽時，他會帶著水瓶、安全帽、耳機，唯一他不用帶的就是車鑰匙，因為他不需要自己去發動賽車。
When a grand prix driver prepares to go racing, he carries with him a number of objects: water bottle, helmet and earphones among them. One thing he doesn’t take is a set of keys; but then again, he does not need them to start a Formula 1 car.

F1 V8引擎馬力比一般道路車大了十幾倍，所以不可能只是轉動鑰匙就能發動。
At the beginning of a race, a complex system is deployed to breathe life into MP4-21. Numerous components are utilised in this secretive action, without which the car would go nowhere. When you consider that a Mercedes-Benz V8 is around ten times more powerful than a road car powerplant, you realise that it takes more than just the twist of a key to get it running.

電子啟動馬達是一個外部的裝置，有一根長長的棒子可以插入變速箱的後部，當技師按下按鈕，就會有24伏的電壓送進變速箱來啟動引擎，啟動馬達連接著電源供應器，電源裝置在手拉的小推車裡
The electrical starter motor is an external unit, held by a mechanic, which features a long wand that is plugged into the back of the gearbox. In simple terms, when he pushes the starter motor’s button, 24 volts are put through the gearbox to turn the engine. The starter has a remote battery supply, which is fitted to a trolley and pulled by the mechanic, the car either being started on the grid before a race, or in the garage or pitlane during testing.

Mclaren的Sub-Assembly技師Andy Barber說"首先，把長棒插入變速箱裡"，"然後依照指示按下啟動馬達上的按鈕"，引擎啟動後工程師透過Laptop監控引擎轉速與油壓，直到滿意後才啟動引擎的點火系統
"First of all, the mechanic inserts the wand in the gearbox," explains Andy Barber, McLaren Racing Sub- Assembly Technician."He then receives a signal to push the starter motor button. This turns the engine over until the engineers are happy with the engine speed and oil pressure and – using a laptop – they will effectively turn the ignition on."

因為。。。。。。
"Because the motor has such a kick in it, there is a reaction arm which hooks up on to the rear wing to stop it coming out of the mechanic’s hand."



啟動馬達由齒輪組及離合器所組成，由於引擎的轉速是啟動馬達轉速的五倍，所以必須設置離合器。這是為了保護技師的安全，如果偵測到了任何異狀，離合器會自動分離，避免意外的發生。
The starter motor features a set of gears and clutch, and as the engine will move five times faster than this, for safety there is a sprag clutch. This acts like the freewheel on a bicycle, allowing the mechanic to withdraw the wand without any danger to himself. Another safety measure is the break-off clutch, which will prevent an accident should the engine backfire.

啟動馬達是在Mclaren Technology中心製造的
While the starter motor itself is an off-the-shelf unit, modified to cope with the high voltage passed through it, the wand, gears, clutch and electronics are all produced in-house at the McLaren Technology Centre. A range of materials are used for the construction, including aluminium for the main body and steel for the wand.

啟動馬達最重要的是可靠度，而不是輕量化，Barber說"過去F1曾經使用車載的啟動馬達，我們希望它越輕越好，所以我們使用air starter"。但是現在我們專住在它的耐用度，而它的表現也相當不錯。
"The starter is made to be reliable, not light, which is one of the benefits of having an external unit,"explains Barber. "In the past, when we had an on-board starter, we wanted it to be as light as possible so we used an air starter. Now we concentrate on durability and this is generally a trouble-free piece of equipment."

Technical Specification

Overall length: 120cm
Weight: 15 kilos
Power: 24 volts


A version of this article originally appeared in the April 2005 edition of Racing Line, the McLaren Group's in-house magazine.

[Source：http://www.mclaren.com/features/technical/starter_motor.php]