Product category:
Inspection and testing (non-metrology)
News Release from: Metris | Subject: WheelTracker G2
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 May 2006
Wheel and engine motion measurement
system
The Metris WheelTracker G2 is the next-generation, real-time 6-DOF wheel and engine motion measurement system designed for vehicle packaging and ride and handling studies on the road.
The Metris WheelTracker G2 is the next-generation, real-time 6-DOF wheel and engine motion measurement system designed for vehicle packaging and ride and handling studies on the road Thanks to the optical, contactless measurement approach, WheelTracker is not only highly accurate but also very reliable, even under harsh driving conditions
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 17 Jun 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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It is very convenient to install the system: within two hours the car is ready to collect full front axle data on the road.
Special attention has been paid to the integration with other acquisition systems through both analog and digital, TCP/IP-based data outputs.
Understanding the actual displacement of wheels and powertrain under a variety of driving conditions is important for powertrain and suspension packaging studies and most of all for ride and handling engineering, the so-called dynamic KandC (kinematics and compliance) tests.
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The Metris WheelTracker G2 is the second generation of a highly successful system first launched in 2002 and used today by automotive OEM like Ford, Honda and Toyota and supplier companies like Goodyear and Michelin.
WheelTracker provides real-time, 6-DOF position information for up to four wheels and the powertrain at a frequency of 200 Hz.
During handling tests toe, camber and wheel spin changes as small as 0,02deg can be captured, while wheel centre displacements are measured with a 0,15 mm accuracy.
With its large measurement volume, WheelTracker can capture the most extreme wheel displacements in a single measurement run.
Thanks to the optical measurement concept the system is very robust by design: there are no moving parts and the sensor has no direct contact with the wheels.
The system can operate on all road conditions (durability cobblestone, pot holes, etc) and in all weather conditions.
With the WheelTracker G2 this reliability has been further expanded: the controller contains a backup battery to survive power dropouts and a data buffer to make the communication with the laptop interruption proof.
The system comes with a universal carbon fiber mounting kit and adaptors for Kistler/Igel wheel force transducers can be delivered off-the-shelf.
The compact controller with the footprint of a laptop can be powered directly from the cigarette lighter as the full system with 5 cameras only consumes 90 W.
Measurement data are available in ASCII and MatLab format.
For the integration with analog measurement systems, the controller provides 6 analog voltage outputs per wheel/engine that each correspond to one of the 6-DOF position values.
Through TCP/IP the measurement data can also be streamed continuously to a laptop or digital acquisition system. Request a free brochure from Metris ...
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