Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

The Racer Game Part 1

Contributors: Shonda Kuiper, DASIL, Shreyas Agrawal '24, Ginger Rowell, Rod Sturdivant

Using Graphs to Compare Race Cars

Formula One, NASCAR, rally, and drag racing – these sports combine high-powered machines with speed and dexterity to create literal thrill rides for the driver, techs, and audience. Video game series like Forza and Grand Theft Auto capitalize on those electrifying experiences. But, for most of us, the mechanics behind these cars and their capabilities remain a mystery – as do the physics behind how they are driven, the way their tracks are designed, and so on.

Shows like Top Gear, in one of its many British or American iterations since the 1970s, have attempted to change that for the average person. The most well-known Top Gear hosts over the years – Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond – used their hour-long program not only to show off fancy “supercars” on and off the track, but also to discuss technical aspects of the vehicles, track conditions, and driver quirks in everyday language. Their snarky banter, clever marketing ploys, and celebrity guest spots were intended to draw in viewers who might be otherwise intimidated by a litany of high-tech specs. Top Gear made it possible for the average person to better understand car mechanics.

To get a meaningful version of those tech specs, someone behind the scenes must run scenarios numerous times, then compile and analyze the resulting data. In the case of this lab, that will be you!

Introduction

In this lab, you will be playing an online racing game. Each car can be raced multiple times, while recording the completion time for each race. When you’re done racing, you’ll analyze the data you collected.

1A: Collecting Data

In the game below, you will need a Player ID. This will be online, so don’t use a name that will identify you – choose something random, but it should also be something you can easily remember. On Top Gear, most often the driver of the test track cars was a mystery driver dressed all in white, known only by the nickname “The Stig.” Part of the fun was guessing the identity of The Stig. If you are conducting this lab as part of a class, your instructor will give you a Group ID (which will be identical for every person in the class).

After entering the Player and Group IDs, start by clicking the Tutorial button. The Tutorial will provide an opportunity for you to practice driving two different cars.

1B: Exploring Sample Data

How did you do? Did you think one car performed better than the other? What data were you paying attention to as you were racing?

Before we analyze the data your class has collected, let’s look at a sample dataset, called sample1. In the following visualization app, you first have the Group ID which represents a sample taken from a previous group of players. The X Variable can either be Car, Order, or Player ID. The Y Variable can either be Finish Time or Top Speed Reached. Try switching between different X and Y variables to see what different data pops up. Then, complete the questions below the app to make sure you understand how this app works.

To use the app, start with the following settings then answer the questions below.

Group ID: sample1

X Variable: Car

Y Variable: Finish Time

Check: Add Boxplot

1C: Get Curious

To make good decisions with data, you often need to consider more than what you can see in a single graph or table. Sometimes there’s an outside influence that the original experiment did not account for. For example, confounding variables (variables that the researcher did not include in the study, but that might be connected to both the independent variable and the dependent variable) may influence the results. In order to evaluate whether the car speeds are truly different, we should identify and consider possible confounding variables. List at least two potential confounding variables that might get in the way of determining which car is faster.

In the Racer App above replace sample1 with the Group ID used by your class.

a. Look carefully through the data from your class. Identify any players that you think should be removed from the dataset.

b. Do the results from your class agree with the sample1 data? In what ways (if any) do they disagree?

c. Do you believe the tutorial data from your class provides convincing evidence that one car is better than the other?

d. Based on the previous question, what evidence did you use to determine that one car was better than another, or what additional evidence would be needed before you could determine that?

Think about different ways we could have conducted this study to improve the quality of our data.

a. Are there better variables to use? For example, what would be the benefits of using Top Speed Reached as the response variable instead of Finish Time?

b. What are the benefits of randomizing the order of the cars?

c. How many races would need to be completed to convince you that one car is better than the other?

Continue to Part 2

1B: Exploring Sample Data

1C: Get Curious

Dataspace

Data Stories

Stats Games

Other Links

Questions?