Astars Tech Air Race vs Street
Discussion
Hi
Just looking at purchasing one of these for road use plus occasional track days. I can't figure out from the website what the differences are apart from 2x charges in the Race vest. Apparently you can alter the firmware of the Race version to make it behave like the Street one.
If I buy the Tech Air Race and wear it on the street, will it go off every time I ride over a pothole, or walk down a flight of steps while it's active?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks...
Just looking at purchasing one of these for road use plus occasional track days. I can't figure out from the website what the differences are apart from 2x charges in the Race vest. Apparently you can alter the firmware of the Race version to make it behave like the Street one.
If I buy the Tech Air Race and wear it on the street, will it go off every time I ride over a pothole, or walk down a flight of steps while it's active?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks...
Other than, as you've said above, it'll go off once in road mode (both charges) and twice in race mode (Single charge if small off, large double charge in large off). In race mode, it only arms and goes off over a certain speed (60kph from memory) whereas in Road Mode it'll go off if you get shunted at the traffic lights when not moving
The Tech-Air Race vest comes out of the box with the race firmware installed. It is designed to detect the type of crash you'd get on a track and uses just one of the two canisters on activation.
You can change the firmware on the Race vest to the Street firmware using Windows-based software. Street mode detects stationary collisions (e.g. a car driving into you at lights) and deploys both canisters. There may be other differences in the collision detection algorithms that I'm not aware of: the Alpinestars literature isn't exactly brimming with detail.
There is also some differences with how the vest arms itself depending on modes: in Street mode it's seems to spend more time thinking/calibrating itself and preparing before it shows the solid green armed light. Sometimes it results in a red fail light, in which case you just disconnect and reconnect the velcro switch and let it run thought the calibration again. It seems to arm much more quickly when sitting on the bike with the engine running.
I only put the Race firmware on long enough to ride to a track day and back again. Ninety nine percent of the time it's sitting in my jacket in Street mode.
Any other questions just ask away.
edited to say: I think you're right, around 60kmph in Race. You see the lights change on the forearm. I haven't a clue how it figures out the speed when it doesn't have GPS. Maybe it can be deduced through accelerometers and gyroscopes (or whatever sensors phones also have these days).
You can change the firmware on the Race vest to the Street firmware using Windows-based software. Street mode detects stationary collisions (e.g. a car driving into you at lights) and deploys both canisters. There may be other differences in the collision detection algorithms that I'm not aware of: the Alpinestars literature isn't exactly brimming with detail.
There is also some differences with how the vest arms itself depending on modes: in Street mode it's seems to spend more time thinking/calibrating itself and preparing before it shows the solid green armed light. Sometimes it results in a red fail light, in which case you just disconnect and reconnect the velcro switch and let it run thought the calibration again. It seems to arm much more quickly when sitting on the bike with the engine running.
I only put the Race firmware on long enough to ride to a track day and back again. Ninety nine percent of the time it's sitting in my jacket in Street mode.
Any other questions just ask away.
edited to say: I think you're right, around 60kmph in Race. You see the lights change on the forearm. I haven't a clue how it figures out the speed when it doesn't have GPS. Maybe it can be deduced through accelerometers and gyroscopes (or whatever sensors phones also have these days).
Edited by gland on Wednesday 31st July 17:36
gland said:
edited to say: I think you're right, around 60kmph in Race. You see the lights change on the forearm. I haven't a clue how it figures out the speed when it doesn't have GPS. Maybe it can be deduced through accelerometers and gyroscopes (or whatever sensors phones also have these days).
Do the instructions say you should/must stand still during the calibration when you activate it?If so, it'll use that as a reference point, then do an integral sum of all the accelerometer inputs to calculate velocity. Easy enough to do with modern chips, and assuming high-accuracy accelerometers (which it will have) then likely nearly as good as GPS anyway.
Krikkit said:
Do the instructions say you should/must stand still during the calibration when you activate it?
If so, it'll use that as a reference point, then do an integral sum of all the accelerometer inputs to calculate velocity. Easy enough to do with modern chips, and assuming high-accuracy accelerometers (which it will have) then likely nearly as good as GPS anyway.
I've just had a look at the users guide and in Race mode it says you have to be travelling at least 100kmph, or you can be going slower and braking/accelerating hard to activate it. Here is a copy of the guide If so, it'll use that as a reference point, then do an integral sum of all the accelerometer inputs to calculate velocity. Easy enough to do with modern chips, and assuming high-accuracy accelerometers (which it will have) then likely nearly as good as GPS anyway.
https://docdro.id/Lgh59n3
gland said:
The Tech-Air Race vest comes out of the box with the race firmware installed. It is designed to detect the type of crash you'd get on a track and uses just one of the two canisters on activation.
You can change the firmware on the Race vest to the Street firmware using Windows-based software. Street mode detects stationary collisions (e.g. a car driving into you at lights) and deploys both canisters. There may be other differences in the collision detection algorithms that I'm not aware of: the Alpinestars literature isn't exactly brimming with detail.
There is also some differences with how the vest arms itself depending on modes: in Street mode it's seems to spend more time thinking/calibrating itself and preparing before it shows the solid green armed light. Sometimes it results in a red fail light, in which case you just disconnect and reconnect the velcro switch and let it run thought the calibration again. It seems to arm much more quickly when sitting on the bike with the engine running.
I only put the Race firmware on long enough to ride to a track day and back again. Ninety nine percent of the time it's sitting in my jacket in Street mode.
Any other questions just ask away.
edited to say: I think you're right, around 60kmph in Race. You see the lights change on the forearm. I haven't a clue how it figures out the speed when it doesn't have GPS. Maybe it can be deduced through accelerometers and gyroscopes (or whatever sensors phones also have these days).
This is really useful stuff. I've been out on a quick test ride and it amazes me how it spots when you're over 100kmh - you can see the amber LED flick off as you go past that speed and blink back on when you drop under it. What's really handy is that you can see the lights clearly in the left mirror, I don't know whether that's by design but it's very useful.You can change the firmware on the Race vest to the Street firmware using Windows-based software. Street mode detects stationary collisions (e.g. a car driving into you at lights) and deploys both canisters. There may be other differences in the collision detection algorithms that I'm not aware of: the Alpinestars literature isn't exactly brimming with detail.
There is also some differences with how the vest arms itself depending on modes: in Street mode it's seems to spend more time thinking/calibrating itself and preparing before it shows the solid green armed light. Sometimes it results in a red fail light, in which case you just disconnect and reconnect the velcro switch and let it run thought the calibration again. It seems to arm much more quickly when sitting on the bike with the engine running.
I only put the Race firmware on long enough to ride to a track day and back again. Ninety nine percent of the time it's sitting in my jacket in Street mode.
Any other questions just ask away.
edited to say: I think you're right, around 60kmph in Race. You see the lights change on the forearm. I haven't a clue how it figures out the speed when it doesn't have GPS. Maybe it can be deduced through accelerometers and gyroscopes (or whatever sensors phones also have these days).
Edited by gland on Wednesday 31st July 17:36
Might be a silly question but I assume it's ok to wear a backpack over the top when it's armed?
amancalledrob said:
Might be a silly question but I assume it's ok to wear a backpack over the top when it's armed?
I'm not sure what Alpinestars say on the subject. I think one of the promo videos showed a rider wearing one. I can't imagine a backpack will interfere with inflation (if/when it goes off I'll be airborne or upside down and the backpack will likely be half hanging off!). Hopefully pressure/friction from straps aren't damaging the vest during everyday riding. I use Kriega bags on the pillion/tank when I can.Krikkit said:
As long as it's loose I doubt it'll be a problem. You wouldn't want a strap tight in a region where the vest would inflate though.
That's a very good point indeed. I rarely carry luggage when I'm on the bike but I'm going to the ring in a week or two so just need to carry a backpack there and back. I think I'll just ride with the airbag unarmed simply because I'm paranoid about a backpack setting it off somehow (daft, I know). It has a built in back protector so it will still provide protection equivalent to what I was wearing before I bought it and motorway riding is much safer than the fun stuff anywayGassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff