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LOADCELL EXPLAINED

SENSOR FORCE VS. ACTUAL FORCE

A 100kg loadcell does not mean you press with 100kg. Mechanical leverage drastically reduces the actual force required at the pedal face. Depending on the pedal's geometry and pivot point, a sensor rated for 100kg often reaches 100% saturation with only 45kg to 60kg of actual physical pressure. But these values cannot be generalised across all pedals. It depends heavily on the exact pedals, the pedal setup and your pressing height on the pedals. This section gives you a deep dive on what you can expect from different pedals.

KINEMATIC OVERVIEW

THE PEDAL RATIO.

The physical pressure applied by your foot (Actual Braking Force) is not equal to the capacity measured by the sensor (Sensor Force). Because the pedal face sits higher than the loadcell sensor, the pedal arm acts as a mechanical lever. This geometry multiplies your physical input before it hits the loadcell. Consequently, you are pressing less force than the advertised sensor force suggest.

Actual Braking force.png

INDEPENDENT TESTING

ACTUAL BRAKING FORCE

While many manufacturers advertise maximum sensor limits, we measured the actual braking force required. The following graphs show the correlation between the software settings and the actual kilograms of force required at the pedal face. All data has been independently gathered through static load testing to give you more insights into the actual forces of your setup.

FANATEC PEDALS

MODEL: CSL LOADCELL PEDALS

Actual Braking Force - Fanatec CSL Loadcell.png

Above is the Actual-Braking-Force-Graph for the Fanatec CSL Loadcell Pedals. The most interesting thing to see is that the software setting adjusts the actual force not lineary but expontentialy. This means that stepping up the software setting from 0 to ~70% increases the actual force only slightly. And after 70% the graph gets alot steeper. Small percentage changes result in a high actual force difference. Here are a few reference points for setting up your pedal:

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  • 30KG ACTUAL FORCE ≙ 75% SOFTWARE SETTING

  • 45KG ACTUAL FORCE ≙ 92% SOFTWARE SETTING

  • 63KG ACTUAL FORCE ≙ 100% SOFTWARE SETTING

MORE PEDALS COMING SOON..

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