Skip to main content

Cross Zlin’s optical sensors increase options for WIM

Having won the 2016 Intertraffic Innovation Award, Cross Zlin is back again with a host of new products including a shortlisted fibre-optic based weigh-in-motion system called OptiWim. Marketing manager Libor Sušil describes the system as weigh-in-free-flow as it measures the axle across the full lane width regardless of the position of the wheels and the sensor can also detect underinflated tyres even on twin wheel configurations. He likens the measuring method to that of a strain gauge but adds that
March 21, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Made to measure: Libor Sušil of Cross Zlin

Having won the 2016 70 Intertraffic Innovation Award, 8689 Cross Zlin is back again with a host of new products including a shortlisted fibre-optic based weigh-in-motion system called OptiWim.

Marketing manager Libor Sušil describes the system as weigh-in-free-flow as it measures the axle across the full lane width regardless of the position of the wheels and the sensor can also detect underinflated tyres even on twin wheel configurations.

He likens the measuring method to that of a strain gauge but adds that the fibre-optic system provides more information, has direct temperature compensation, is unaffected by radio frequencies and achieves an accuracy of ±3%.

There are no electrical cables running to the sensor which comes in several lengths, has an expected life of 10 years and fits into a U-Bed installed in the road surface. When required, the sensor can be removed and changed without disturbing the road surface by undoing the side holder bars.

The company is in the process of having the system type approved but is confident that OptiWim’s A3 precision means it can be used for automatically penalising overloaded vehicles and will offer a speed range from 10km/h up to a theoretical 250km/h. It says automatic ticketing has seen a substantial improvement in enforcement and penalisation of violators and that removing overloaded vehicles dramatically increases a road’s lifespan.

Although the cost of individual fibre-optic sensors is higher that their traditional counterparts, Sušil says because each WIM location needs only a single sensor (in each direction), the overall cost is equivalent to using other technologies.

Related Content

  • December 28, 2021
    Artificial Intelligence applications for commercial vehicle operations
    The combination of machine learning, deep neural networks and computer vision provides opportunities to address in new ways an increasing range of functions that are a part of commercial vehicle operations. Here, IRD’s Rish Malhotra details how.
  • March 21, 2018
    Cestel showcases non-invasive WIM solution for bridges
    Cestel says its MkIII SiWIM technology turns any bridge into a fully automatic weigh-in-motion system without disturbing the road surface. Sensors are fixed to the underside of the bridge deck beneath up to four lanes of traffic and the system is calibrated with vehicles of known weight passing individually, in opposite directions and in various combinations depending on the road layout. Having been calibrated, an algorithm then interprets the information to determine the number, weights, speed and
  • June 15, 2016
    Kistler is first WIM system to gain OIML certification
    Kistler said it has obtained the OIML R-134 certificate for its Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) system, making it the first WIM manufacturer to have received the certification for vehicle weighing with strip sensors from 3 to 65 km/h. Since OIML R-134 is the international metrology standard for legal weighing applications, the certificate paves the way for the use of Kistler WIM systems – consisting of Lineas quartz WIM sensors and the Kistler WIM Data Logger – in applications such as weight-based toll collection
  • July 6, 2016
    IRD’s portable wheel load scale now enables WIM screening
    International Road Dynamics’ (IRD) SAW Series III portable wheel load scale is now available in a configuration that enables weigh-in-motion screening for overweight vehicles, using the system’s software to pre-select overloaded trucks.