E-Sports: on the Racetrack with MEMS

In the smartphone racing game Asphalt 9, engines roar and tires screech as fancy sports cars speed down the road. Gameloft's digital racing game carries players all over the world, from all over the world - with the mobile game being downloaded by almost 50 million people. In E-sports events, the best compete for cash prizes, one of them is 29-year-old Florian Roschu, also known by his gaming nickname "oNio". He is an international front-runner and won the global championship title in an Asphalt 9 team tournament, alongside his teammate, a few months ago.

Since then, "oNio" competed in ten racing game tournaments, making it to the final round each time, with the success strategy: "Time and patience. You need to pay close attention to the game mechanics and master the controls”.

There are three control modes to choose from: Within the first mode, the game controls the race car, whereas in the second mode, the player controls the direction of the car by touching the left or right side of the screen. However, Florian mentions that all professional players prefer the third mode, where all assists are turned off and the gamer controls the car by tilting their smartphone to the side. Even though this mode may be more difficult to master, it allows you to steer more precisely and smooth, the gamer explains.

MEMS, which are merely just few millimeters in size and often thinner than a human hair, have different structures and functions. While some detect gases or register an object's rotational speed, others measure air pressure or acceleration. MEMS detect changes in state by monitoring the action of external forces on small silicon structures inside these sensors. That information is then sent to an evaluation circuit called an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), where electrical signals are then received by a control unit, which analyses them and, if necessary, triggers airbags or brakes individual wheels on a vehicle.