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New technology is changing the Weigh In Motion landscape

Exciting new weigh in motion solutions were showcased at Intertraffic. Guy Woodford reports For many years weigh-in-motion (WIM) has been used solely as a filtering mechanism to detect potentially overloaded vehicles, but introductions at Intertraffic may see that change. At the Intertraffic exhibition to unveil its Apollo range of British-manufactured axle weighbridges was Applied Traffic. The in-motion and static axle-by-axle weighing system offers slow speed and portable weighing solutions suitable for
June 5, 2014 Read time: 4 mins
Launched at Intertraffic 2014, Kistler’s WIM Data Logger is able to process a huge variety of traffic data
Exciting new weigh in motion solutions were showcased at Intertraffic. Guy Woodford reports

For many years weigh-in-motion (WIM) has been used solely as a filtering mechanism to detect potentially overloaded vehicles, but introductions at 70 Intertraffic may see that change.

At the Intertraffic exhibition to unveil its Apollo range of British-manufactured axle weighbridges was 7699 Applied Traffic. The in-motion and static axle-by-axle weighing system offers slow speed and portable weighing solutions suitable for fleet operators and enforcement agencies.

The portable WIM weighbridge can fit into the back of a car and comprises two robust and easy to set up weighing platforms linked by Bluetooth to a battery-powered indicator. Said to be accurate to within 2%, it can weigh up to 16 axles at any one time and up to 30t per axle.

Applied Traffic’s chairman Julian Glasspole said: “The accuracy of our Apollo systems is hard to beat plus it is easy to install and cost-effective. A linked database facility means that customers can store vehicle registrations against vehicle types to ensure the weight doesn’t exceed legal requirements.”

Also in Amsterdam, Swiss WIM solution manufacturer 657 Kistler launched its new Lineas WIM Data Logger which has been developed specifically to interface Lineas WIM sensors and provide high accuracy vehicle weight data. The data logger’s compact design (with integrated charge amplifier) is easily integrated into any overall solution and can cover a variety of applications such as traffic data collection (statistics), Toll collection and enforcement (as a pre-selection tool). 
On the WIM side data logger is said to offers high weighing accuracy is be capable of OIML certified measurement. It can cover with a wide measuring and speed range and a web interface allows a quick setup. According to Kistler, in many applications the importance of accuracy and reliability of data has increased and thus the requirement to work with the most advanced technology. It says this product introduction is just part of its strategy of delivering the best quality of vehicle weight data by mastering the WIM sensor technology and signal processing.

1982 Intercomp is now offering improved high speed, WIM technology with its latest AX900 Axle Scale. Speaking in Amsterdam, its vice president Eric Peterson said the conventional application for WIM is for screening. However he said the AX900 uses strain gauge technology which offers a greater degree of accuracy and repeatability than conventional systems as well as fast response times.

There are other advances too: “We’ve downsized it,” said Peterson.

The strip weighing scales fit into 75mm grooves in the roadway and are said to have shorter installation times and lower maintenance needs than other systems. It is also available with fully integrated RFX wireless technology. This cable-free operation is made possible by embedded radios enabling wireless communication to a variety of devices, while digital output still allows for cable backup. Calibration is stored at the scale providing users with interchangeability of all components.

 Where local regulations prevent the use of wireless communication, there are hardwired alternatives and or the radios can be disabled. Users can interface their own indicator to the scales using analogue output versions.

AX900 scales come in a variety of lengths, capacities and configurations to weigh anything from single to multi-axle vehicles. They feature a 92mm (3.6inch) low-profile overall height for easy loading and utilises stainless steel, hermetically sealed shear beam load cells that are certified to 5,000 divisions by the US National Institute of Standards and Technologies.
There were more innovations for UK based WheelRight which claims an industry First with a weigh-in-motion system that also incorporates tyre pressure monitoring.

WheelRight’s solution comprises a sensory pad that is embedded into the road, at a point where vehicles enter or leave a facility. There is no need to have sensors on the vehicle and as a vehicle drives over it, ‘in-motion’ measurements of weight and axle load, as well as vehicle tyre pressures and temperatures, are acquired and analysed. Within seconds, readings are emailed to the depot and optionally, delivered to the driver’s mobile phone.

The solution enables transport companies, highway management firms and port authorities to check axle weights and tyre pressures within seconds and the results can be sent to the driver’s mobile phone or to a fleet traffic office. 

The UK’s National Measurement Office (NMO) has accredited the company’s innovative technology to the Weigh in Motion standard OIML R134 following a series of laboratory and practical tests to prove the system’s accuracy and consistency. According to WheelRight, this the First time the 7204 Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale (OIML) has granted accreditation for a weigh-in-motion system that also incorporates tyre pressure monitoring in a single product.

John Catling, chief executive of WheelRight, said, “We now have the only accredited WiM device that also offers tyre pressure-in-motion (PiM). This certification will enable any organisation concerned with monitoring tyre pressures and weigh-in-motion, to remotely monitor vehicles with a single, accredited and proven system.”

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