Transducers get the measure of wheel forces

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 26, 2004

Caesar can now offer a complete family of six-component wheel force transducers for all vehicle sizes - from compact passenger cars up to heavy trucks.

In co-operation with US manufacturer RS Technologies, Caesar can now offer a complete family of six-component wheel force transducers (WFTs) for all vehicle sizes - from compact passenger cars up to heavy trucks.

The new truck WFTs are equally suitable for front and rear axles, and may even be used for twin tyres.

RS Technologies' vast experience in the development and application of wheel force transducers results in an optimum design offering an extremely easy installation and many outstanding features.

Once the wheels are prepared, the initial setup time is about the same as changing a tyre, permitting rapid changes of rim and tyre assemblies for specialised tests such as winter handling and tyre performance verification.

The mechanical alignment, signal zeroing and gain adjustment are automatically performed while driving the vehicle, by simply rolling without braking or accelerating in an unforced mode on a level surface for a few revolution of the wheels.

The mechanical design of the transducer ensures full linearity and minimal crosstalk.

Slip-ring as well as wireless telemetry systems are available for immediate data transfer from the rotating wheel to a stationary data acquisition system like the Caesar MOPS, allowing online calculation of the resolved forces and torque signals with the MOPS-TIU signal conditioning module.

Calibration information is stored in the transducer and is automatically transferred into the calculation algorithm.

The resolved force and torque vectors are continuously calculated in real time at an incredible rate of 20kHz offering extremely high resolution and accuracy for the resolved signals.

For example: using a 14in wheel at a speed of 177km/h, at least two data samples are provided for every degree of revolution.

Distortions of the signals - resulting from temperature drift, for example - are automatically corrected.