In the high-speed world of motorsport racing, reliability and precision are key. Indy Wiring Services, located at 3800 IN-267 E in Brownsburg, is known for customizing high-quality and precise harness wiring solutions for motorsport vehicles constructed to withstand the fast-paced and unpredictable aspects of the track. It is a one-stop shop that offers a variety of services, including harness building, harness repair, wiring harness design, and rapid programming.
Owner Jeremy Gibson brought nearly a decade of experience in harness building and track support from his former position at Pi Research, later known as Cosworth Electronics. He was then sent to the United Kingdom to undergo more extensive training.
"Motorsport innovation and technology are more advanced in the UK, making specialized background knowledge in motorsports much more common there, compared to the US," explains Gibson. "That is what makes Indy Wiring Services so unique – we're one of the very few technical shops in the US that offers this level of expertise in wiring and harness support."
In 2010, Jeremy opened a shop to cater to clients for motorsport harness wiring, including notable organizations like NASCAR and IndyCar. In addition, nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park and Indianapolis Motor Speedway attract many race teams headquarters to the Brownsburg area. Their years of expertise have allowed them to expand to a new sector of projects in autonomous vehicles, where they are expanding their skills in the ever-changing motorsports industry to enhance Indiana's reputation as the racing capital of the world.
In September, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted its annual Indy Autonomous Challenge, representing ten teams nationwide. This challenge started in 2021, following three years of simulation-only racing. The teams compete within a racing circuit using a computer base during this autonomous race, making these race cars completely driverless. Indy Wiring Services provided the 41 harnesses that each vehicle requires to race. These cars are composed of about a mile of wiring as well as 175 connectors. Ultimately, these vehicles are constructed meticulously to support the integration of self-driving cars.
Upon Indy Wiring's involvement in the race, Jeremey was invited to Clemson University to assist with their wiring harnessing techniques. Indy Wiring Services' role was to refine Clemson's engineering to ensure that it met the set racing standards for durability. Clemson ended up building many iterations of the project, resulting in the completion of about 12 race cars in six months.
"I would absolutely love to participate in a project similar to our involvement in the Indy Autonomous Challenge and to continue supporting this series," Jeremy states. "Throughout this process, we have gained a much deeper understanding of the industry and the key players in autonomy. "
Indy Wiring then concluded procedures by fitting complex wiring into tight spaces, ensuring durability, and addressing issues that arose during the manufacturing process. This led to the need for adaptability to sudden changes and challenging efforts.
Working at Indy Wiring, you never quite know what to expect daily and what skills you can pick up along the way when working on new projects, making the trade all that more rewarding.
"Everybody is a jack-of-all-trades, and we are always cross-training. Day to day, we could be building a complete project, terminating sensors, or working on an industrial-style harness," says Jeremy.
The building process of these harnesses ultimately starts with the design layout, either through CAD software or directly on the physical vehicle. Once all necessary connections are mapped out, a bill of materials is constructed to specify the placement of connectors and wires. Next, the main connector is terminated, as well as the color-coded wire identifiers. These coded colors indicate which connector and pin that the wire connects to. For the practice of motorsport harnessing, a concentric twisting technique is put to use. In this process, twisted wires are layered in opposite directions to ensure flexibility and a balance of straining between wires. To encapsulate the harness, they use Raychem's system 25, which combines heat shrink, molded boots, and glue to ensure that the entire harness is entirely waterproof.
"We strive to help our customers improve their designs and give them feedback throughout the process.", says Jeremy.
Indy Wiring Services' partnership approach has given them a respectable reputation within the harnessing trade. They prioritize customer satisfaction, given their rapid response time and keen sense of flexibility for projects.
"We hope to continue to grow slowly to get more involved with the EV and autonomous projects and continue to stay with our motorsport roots," Jeremy shared.
