Manchester Met

MANCHESTER METROLOGY’S SPEED AND ACCURACY AIDS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT 43 For all enquiries please call: 0161 637 8744 Becci’s amazing feat was performed at Elvington airfield in North Yorkshire on a 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa, a sports motorcycle which, when launched in 1999, immediately won acclaim as the world’s fastest production motorcycle. In preparation for Becci’s record-breaking run, her Hayabusa was highly modified by her husband, Mike Ellis, with the help of a team of dedicated volunteers and sponsors, enabling it to generate a mighty 650 bhp. Not satisfied with being the current holder of the record, Becci is now busy preparing for a new attempt to raise her own record speed further. In addition to multiple further mechanical modifications to the previously record- breaking Hayabusa, particular attention is now being paid to the aerodynamics of both the bike itself and to the rider. Rather than use traditional wind tunnel testing method to analyse and improve the bike’s aerodynamic performance, the team behind Becci’s latest record-breaking attempt is using advanced virtual simulation techniques. To help gather the raw data needed to enable the best possible virtual simulation outcomes, the team enlisted the help of Manchester Metrology, acknowledged experts in the field of precise laser scanning and data capture. Mindful of the need to acquire highly accurate data, the staff of Manchester Metrology used a Edge ScanArm HD to undertake the critical scanning routines of the bike and rider. The advanced Edge ScanArm HD is the latest advancement in the popular ScanArm product range and provides point cloud capture with rapid speed, superior resolution and high accuracy. The compact, easy-to-use Edge ScanArm HD combines the convenience of a Portable Arm with the power of a Laser Line Probe creating a flexible, high-performance contact/non-contact portable measurement system. Philip Knowlson of Manchester Metrology concluded. “Given our need to perform multiple, highly precise scans of the motorcycle and rider and to generate the vital data required for aerodynamic virtual simulation purposes, we chose to use an Edge ScanArm HD. The advanced product was ideal for this application as it has an exceptional scan rate of up to 560,000 points/second. Also, given the range of different materials we needed to scan, including the bikes faring, wheels and tank, also the rider in her leathers and helmet, it was a major advantage that the Edge ScanArm HD is able to perform precise scanning routines across a range of diverse surface materials without any surface preparation or targets.” Having smashed the previous mark by 20 mph, Scunthorpe based Becci Ellis set an incredible world record of 264.1mph and became the world’s fastest woman on a conventional motorcycle over a standing start mile. Achieving the female land speed record also makes her the fourth fastest rider in the world, just 30mph behind the overall world record set by the late American rider Bill Warner.