AiM Race Studio 3 Maths Channels Guide: Building Custom Calculated Channels

A maths channel in AiM Race Studio 3 is a calculated channel built from one or more of your existing logged channels, rather than a value read directly from a sensor. They let you turn raw sensor data into something more directly useful for race engineering. This guide covers the practical side of when and how to use them.

What a Maths Channel Actually Is

Every maths channel is a formula applied to data you've already logged. Instead of reading a sensor directly, Race Studio 3 calculates a new value from existing channels, sample by sample, across the session. The result appears alongside your logged channels and can be graphed, compared, and reviewed the same way.

When a Maths Channel Is Worth Building

• Combining two related channels into one meaningful value, such as a calculated difference or ratio between two existing sensors.
• Converting a raw sensor reading into a more directly usable unit, when the built-in channel doesn't already give you the form you need.
• Creating a consistent comparison value you want to see the same way across every session, rather than mentally calculating it each time you review data.

If you're not sure whether a maths channel will actually help you make a decision on the data, it's worth asking first rather than building something that adds noise without adding insight.

Getting an Accurate Maths Channel

• Start from correctly calibrated source channels. A maths channel built on a miscalibrated sensor will simply carry that error forward, often in a less obvious way.
• Check units carefully. Mixing units (for example metric and imperial) inside one formula is one of the most common sources of a maths channel that looks plausible but is wrong.
• Test the new channel against a known session. Before trusting a new maths channel for a real decision, check its output against a session where you already understand the expected result.
• Name it clearly. A vague channel name is easy to misread weeks later. Include the unit and what it represents in the name itself.

Common Maths Channel Mistakes

Building a channel before checking the source data is clean

If the underlying channels have dropouts, spikes, or calibration issues, fix those first. A maths channel amplifies problems in its source data rather than hiding them.

Forgetting to update a maths channel after a sensor change

If you change a sensor's calibration, range, or wiring, any maths channel built on that sensor's data needs to be checked again, not assumed to still be correct.

Over-complicating the formula

A maths channel that tries to capture too many variables at once becomes hard to trust and hard to explain. Simpler, well-understood channels are usually more useful trackside than one complex calculated value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do maths channels work the same way across all AiM devices?

The maths channel feature is part of Race Studio 3 itself, but the channels available to build from depend on what your specific AiM device logs. Confirm your device's available channels before assuming a particular calculation is possible.

Can a maths channel use data from more than one session?

Maths channels are generally calculated within a single session's data. Comparing calculated values across sessions is done through Race Studio 3's comparison tools rather than a single cross-session maths channel.

Will a maths channel slow down my analysis?

Not meaningfully for a normal number of channels. The main cost of maths channels is complexity and the risk of an unchecked error, not processing time.

Continue Your Race Studio 3 Learning

Head back to the AiM Race Studio 3 Knowledge Hub for installation, configuration, data analysis, and troubleshooting guidance, or read the Race Studio 3 Data Analysis Guide for how to read the resulting data properly.