Live From Daytona 500: BSI Adapts to Next-Gen Cars With New Front, Rear Bumper Cams

Live From Daytona 500: BSI Adapts to Next-Gen Cars With New Front, Rear Bumper Cams The team worked closely with NASCAR to avoid complications with airflow By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor

Saturday, February 19, 2022 - 9:52 am

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As NASCAR enters into its next phase of driver safety and car development, camera manufacturers are also tasked with adapting to these changes. Broadcast Sports International (BSI), a supplier in the NEP Group family that offers high-quality POV cameras and RF services, may be the most affected entity. To answer the call, the company has developed a new front and rear Bumper Cam that puts the fan even closer to the grid.

We started working with the individuals that were designing the Next-Gen cars at NASCAR about two years ago, says Peter Larsson, president, BSI. The interior of the car has changed substantially, and we're using a different mounting plate, so there was a lot of back and forth with sending them drawings of what we could build.

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Collaborative Discussions: NASCAR, BSI Find Competitive Sweet Spot Peter Larsson, Alexander Meszaros, Nate Lowe, Robert Crow, and Tom Grigsby stand in front of their hauler in the infield.

With any piece of technology that's added to the car, it needs the blessing of the operations team at NASCAR. Since these new Next-Gen cars are constructed in a different way and are being introduced for official races on the asphalt this season, the biggest challenge to overcome was the bumper cams potentially compromising the integrity of the car. In collaboration with Managing Director, Aerodynamics and Vehicle Performance Eric Jacuzzi and other key members at NASCAR, Larsson and his BSI crew wanted to avoid any sort of hindrance to the driver.

Joey Logano's damaged Bumper Cam (left) and one installed in the rear of a car (right).

Testing was very difficult because we needed to make sure the camera wasn't stopping the natural air flow of the car, he says. NASCAR didn't want any air going through and under the car because that would be a different scenario from the cars that weren't running them.

The Visor Cam view from No. 99 Daniel Su rez (left) and the device (right).

In an effort to make sure the playing field was even, different models were created, thrown away, and revised. Ultimately, both parties developed a piece of hardware that was small enough to not affect the aerodynamics of any participating car while also fitting snug into the car's body. Like other robotic POVs, these cameras can pan left to right and track the traffic next to, in front, and behind the car. In addition, a solution was made to supply a long enough cable that would attach the device to the main equipment plate on the inside of the car and prevent it from flying away from the car after impact. For example, the front Bumper Cam on the No. 22 car of Joey Logano sustained minor damage after he collided into the wall near the conclusion of the second duel on Thursday night. While it takes 45 minutes to install into the car, the team has 20 backup cameras if one isn't able to be fixed.

A practice Roof Cam (left) and one installed in the car of No. 77 Landon Cassill (right).

While these Bumper Cams are the main attraction, BSI will be operating its customary arsenal of POV cameras in the car and around the track. Similar to previous runs of the Daytona 500, in-car cameras will include a stationary POV that captures the face and body of the driver and Visor Cams on a handful of drivers behind the wheel. Roof Cams will also return to provide a higher vantage point atop the car. BSI will also supply support for a pair of DreamChip POVs: one at the curve between Turns 1 and 2 and another at the straight away after Turn 4. A ton of these feeds will be operated out of NEP's new SRT3 mobile unit.

Other cameras are capturing the driver in the cockpit.

With the new transmitters that we're building for the onboard cameras, we can have multiple video feeds through a single eight megahertz wide signal, says Larsson. We've also created an encoder to now do two or three videos through that one eight-meg signal.

Back in a Packed House: Crew Sidesteps Any RF Disruptions For one of the most crowded events in American sports, BSI will have to deal with a massive influx of cellular congestion as fans return to Daytona International Speedway. It's a hurdle that they're used to leaping over, but after last year's race that saw limited-capacity attendance, worrying about RF congestion is now back on Larsson's plate. Fortunately, these cameras and solutions are operating on a different frequency.

The equipment plate located inside the car.

As fans come in, the Wi-Fi band becomes almost unusable, so we stay away from that, he continues. We always operate in a secondary, non-interfering basis. As we go higher [up the spectrum], we need two to three times the number of antennas around the track.

The battery pack is located next to the driver's seat.

Along with the plethora of wearable POVs and robotics, the company will be responsible for a few other cameras. Three Sony HDC-5500s will be used as RF handhelds in the pits, but more notably, they will serve up connectiv

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