McLaren Formula 1 team’s sister company, McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) has been involved in the design and the fabrication of the skeleton sleds used by the British athletes at the Sochi winter Olympic Games.
Two British engineers, Rachel Blackburn and James Roche, have been involved with skeleton for some time, and they decided to join MAT after the Vancouver Olympic Games.
“We saw McLaren as the leader in the UK in terms of delivering technology solutions to Olympic and professional sport. McLaren has played a major role in helping British athletes achieve success in sports such as cycling, canoeing and sailing,” said Roche in an interview.
The two engineers began by having a rigorous scientific look at sled design.
They fitted a range of sensors to various sleds, analysed a lot of data to build an effective computer models and only then did we really get a picture of what was working and what could be improved.
“One improvement that we identified was the potential to adapt sleds to suit individual athletes and configure them to suit particular tracks. That has always been our approach in Formula 1, to consider every detail and make even small changes if they make the car better suited to the driver and the circuit. We have been able to bring the same refinement to skeleton bob for the first time,” Roche explained.
“As well as looking at design, we brought some of our F1 manufacturing expertise to help improve how the sleds are produced. In F1, we manufacture a new part for the car roughly every 17 minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That is a lot of parts over a season, and as a result we have become pretty good at making high quality components that don’t fail. We have applied that know how working with both the skeleton bob and bobsleigh teams,” Roche said.
James Roche admits he’s been down a run on a skeleton sled.
“I find it extremely valuable to understand what the athlete goes through. It is also better than any roller coaster in the world, I recommend it!” he laughed.
Two British engineers, Rachel Blackburn and James Roche, have been involved with skeleton for some time, and they decided to join MAT after the Vancouver Olympic Games.
“We saw McLaren as the leader in the UK in terms of delivering technology solutions to Olympic and professional sport. McLaren has played a major role in helping British athletes achieve success in sports such as cycling, canoeing and sailing,” said Roche in an interview.
The two engineers began by having a rigorous scientific look at sled design.
They fitted a range of sensors to various sleds, analysed a lot of data to build an effective computer models and only then did we really get a picture of what was working and what could be improved.
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| The McLaren designed skeleton sled (Photo: McLaren Group) |
“One improvement that we identified was the potential to adapt sleds to suit individual athletes and configure them to suit particular tracks. That has always been our approach in Formula 1, to consider every detail and make even small changes if they make the car better suited to the driver and the circuit. We have been able to bring the same refinement to skeleton bob for the first time,” Roche explained.
“As well as looking at design, we brought some of our F1 manufacturing expertise to help improve how the sleds are produced. In F1, we manufacture a new part for the car roughly every 17 minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That is a lot of parts over a season, and as a result we have become pretty good at making high quality components that don’t fail. We have applied that know how working with both the skeleton bob and bobsleigh teams,” Roche said.
James Roche admits he’s been down a run on a skeleton sled.
“I find it extremely valuable to understand what the athlete goes through. It is also better than any roller coaster in the world, I recommend it!” he laughed.