Researchers at Purdue University are working with the U.S. Army and Honeywell International Inc. to develop high-tech speed bumps that use sensors to detect damage in military vehicles, before they can fail on the battlefield.
The technology identifies problems to critical suspension components as it drives over a "diagnostic cleat" - a rubber-covered speed bump equipped with triaxial accelerometers. Vibrations are measured as the vehicle drives over the cleat and damage is detected in its tires,wheel bearings and suspension by using signal processing software to interpret the sensor data.
"Our aim is to save time and maintenance costs, but more importantly, to reduce downtime by catching damage before it leads to failure in the field," says Douglas Adams, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue's Center for Systems Integrity. "Let's say one of the tires is severely under pressure. The cleat tells you to turn around and fill up that tire because you about to embark on a 10-hour mission with this vehicle. The maintenance personnel don't have to troubleshoot the vehicle. They know what to fix."
Joseph Gothamy, a U.S. Army researcher, says the diagnostic cleat is designed to be quick and easy to use.
"The last thing we want to do is take time from already overburdened soldiers and maintenance officers. The cleat is a quick first check to determine what's mechanically wrong with a vehicle before wasting time hunting for potentially simple problems," he says.
Adams says the technology will help reduce military costs by performing work on vehicles when needed, rather than performing scheduled maintenance on vehicles regardless of whether they need repairs. "Operating and maintenance costs for military weapon systems accounted for about 60 percent of the $500 billion U.S. Department of Defense budget in 2006," he says.
According to Adams, researchers have filed for a patent on the diagnostic cleat. The system could also be used in commercial applications to test civilian vehicles, he says.