The Man behind the VBOX.
Mr. Ashish Samant
Chief Executive, Zen Microsystems
Report by Mihir Gadre…
Nowadays, a biker’s street-cred gets a major fillip when he rants of the performance figures of the latest bike amongst his peers. If anyone questions the credibility of his data, he goes “dude, the testing was done using a VBOX!” and all arguments are laid to rest. Over the years, the faith in the VBOX has become so strong that the figures claimed by the manufacturers have become a laughing stock and rightly so.However the revolution brought about by the VBOX didn’t happen overnight. It took a good part of a decade and relentless hard work for Mr. Ashish Samant, Chief Executive of Zen Microsystems to bring about this change. Mr. Samant is B. E. Electronics and has been working in the field of Automotive Safety and Vehicle Testing for more than a decade. He has gained plenty of experience in crash testing technology, high speed photography and has expertise in handling various kinds of technical analysis software. He has worked as a Test Consultant in Vehicle Dynamics, Tyre Evaluation and Vehicle Performance Testing for various manufacturers. Apart from his work at Zen Microsystems, he has contributed technical articles to country’s leading Automotive Magazines. He has conducted an induction course in Vehicle Dynamics & Vehicle Testing for Tata Motors and has worked as a visiting lecturer in VIT College Of Engineering as well.
When was Zen Microsystems established? What are the different projects that the company has undertaken over the years?
Zen Microsystems is a Pune Based Company that was established in November 2002 and has been working in the field of Automotive Testing for last 7 years. The company is an exclusive distributor for a number of international testing equipment manufacturing companies. It has carried out several Vehicle Testing Projects in India for variety of Vehicles like 2/3-Wheelers, Cars, Buses, Trucks (Tractor-Trailer, Tippers). However that’s not all, Zen Microsystems has also worked on testing of Defense Vehicles, Rally Cars, Battle Tanks and Helicopters! It has also undertaken projects for Benchmarking Testing for 40000 km Tyre Mileage Projects. Zen Micro has also conducted full scale crash tests of cars as well as rickshaws at ARAI and Tata Motors.
What are the various products that you provide?
ZEN MICROSYSTEMS is Exclusive Distributor of India for RACELOGIC LIMITED, UK. We Market their VBOX & Entire Range of Products related to Vehicle Dynamics Data Acquisition hardware using GPS Technology & Data Analysis Software. We also represent BRIGHTWATER TECHNOLOGIES, UK, for Tyre Temperature & Pressure Monitoring Systems, MECHANICAL SIMULATION CORPORATION, USA for Vehicle Dynamics Simulation Softwares, DR. WEHRHNAN GmbH, Germany for Laser Displacement sensors, TEKSCAN, USA Pressure Mapping Systems. We provide an excellent Service Support and our Sub-Agent Network in India cater to other region for Automotive Business.
How many Racelogic systems are in use currently in India? Who all are using it?
We have completed the installation and training for 85 systems in India. Our cliental covers 2/3 Wheelers manufacturer, Passenger Cars, Heavy Trucks manufacturers, Tyre Manufacturers, Research Centers, Certifying Authorities and Highly reputed Educational Institutes.
What’s the latest from Racelogic?
The latest product from Racelogic is the Video VBOX it consists of two sets of High Definition video cameras and microphones mated to the VBOX system. It can also be connected to the ECU of modern cars in order to gauge things like rpm. Throttle position, brake position etc. in correlation with the performance data. Expect it to be used on the automobile TV shows real soon.