Intelligent transport solutions from Interface

The term “smart transport” refers to the integration of advanced technologies and intelligent systems in the transport sector, including infrastructure and vehicles, that improve efficiency, safety and sustainability.

The transportation industry is becoming increasingly smarter, with advances in autonomous driving and electric vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles and airborne electric vehicles, high-speed trains and light rail, and transportation routes. Behind these innovations are critical testing and monitoring solutions that help engineers ensure absolute safety and quality during development and operation for real-time monitoring.

Interface transducers are used to measure force, torque or weight for both testing and integration into intelligent transportation systems. Our load cells, torque transducers, scales, load pins, tension members and multi-axis sensors provide critical measurement data for design, development, testing and performance monitoring in various intelligent transportation applications.

Some examples of intelligent transportation inventions and use cases that leverage Interface's advanced sensing technologies include:

Smart Cargo Monitoring: Load cells are installed in trucks, trailers or shipping containers to monitor the weight and distribution of cargo. These load cells provide real-time data about the weight of the load. This ensures that weight limits are adhered to and prevents overloading, which can lead to safety risks and increased fuel consumption.
Structural testing of vehicles: Load cells and torque transducers are used to measure forces and loads applied to vehicle structures during physical testing. This includes crash testing, structural integrity assessments and load capacity assessments. The data obtained helps engineers analyze the structural performance and safety properties of vehicles, enabling improvements in the design and manufacturing processes for intelligent transport.
Infrastructure Load Data Acquisition: Load cells can be used in roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure as part of load data acquisition systems. These systems measure the dynamic forces and loads to which the vehicles are exposed. By placing load cells at strategic points on the vehicle, e.g. B. on suspension components or the chassis, engineers can collect data on acceleration, braking, cornering forces and road-induced vibrations. This information helps in vehicle development, durability testing and optimization of suspension and chassis designs. They also help plan long-lasting construction projects and infrastructure.
Intelligent weighing systems: Load cells can be integrated into weighing systems at weigh stations or toll booths. By measuring the weight of vehicles passing through, these systems can accurately determine toll rates, enforce weight limits, and collect data for traffic management and planning.
Smart Suspension Systems: Load cells are integrated into the suspension systems of vehicles such as trucks and buses to monitor load distribution and adjust suspension settings accordingly. This helps optimize vehicle performance, increase stability and improve driving comfort.
Load-measuring axles: Load cells can be installed in axles to measure the weight carried by individual wheels or sets of wheels. This information is critical for load balancing, tire pressure monitoring and detecting potential axle overload situations.

Since the early days of “Smart Mobility,” Interface has been providing force measurement solutions that are used in electric or self-driving vehicles. Interface has developed and supplied precision force and torque testing and measuring systems specifically for the automotive sector, which meet the high requirements for testing all components. The automotive market is subject to extremely strict regulations. Therefore, testing and measurements are critical to the safety, reliability, longevity and overall performance of intelligent vehicles.

In the context of intelligent rail transport and railways, force measurement is crucial in the testing and evaluation of rail vehicles, including locomotives, passenger trains and freight cars. Load cells and force sensors are used in a variety of ways. Load cells are used in braking systems to measure the forces exerted during braking maneuvers. This allows designers to assess the effectiveness of automatic braking systems and ensure compliance with safety standards. The same type of sensors can be used to measure the vertical, lateral and longitudinal forces acting on the bogies (wheelsets) of railway vehicles, allowing intelligent adjustment of operating conditions.

Intelligent traffic sensors to prevent train derailments

Force measuring systems can be used to measure the contact forces between the wheels and the track. This allows assessment of wheel-rail interaction, including wheel-rail forces, lateral forces and rolling resistance. This data helps optimize track design, wheel profile selection and maintenance practices to ensure safe and efficient rail operations. The use of our Pillow Block Load Bearing Load Cell is a great solution for monitoring trains on a moving track. When our PBLC1 is installed on a track and the train passes over it, the sensor can send a signal to a station elsewhere in the world. If any force indicators suggest that there may be a problem with the weight the train is carrying or with the train itself, the sensor can also trigger an automatic shutdown of the train. These sensors could prevent major damage from train derailments and other train accidents by detecting errors before they cause damage. This is an extremely important application as innovators begin to develop high-speed intercity trains.

Smart trucking weighing solution

In this use case, a smart transportation company needs to accurately record the weight or loads that are constantly being transported. You want a wireless weighbridge that is capable of transmitting, logging and displaying results in real time. Interface suggests several WTS 1200 LowProfile™ load cells to be installed under a weighing platform. When a truck drives over it, the load cells wirelessly transmit the force results to the WTS-BS-4 industrial base station, which comes with the customer's PC and the included Log100 software connected is. The wireless large LED display WTS-LD2 can also display the weight inside so that the driver can keep an eye on it at all times.

Smart vehicle crash walls

Improving vehicle safety is smart. For this use case, Interface suggests several 3A400 3-axis load cells to use and attach it to the back of a concrete wall. When connected to the BX8-HD44 BlueDAQ series data acquisition system The force measurement results are recorded by Interface and displayed on a computer. The sensors measure impact force for all different vehicle crash test demonstrations and provide high-precision data to increase vehicle safety.

Structural battery testing for electric vehicles

As electric vehicles drive increased efficiency, the structural packaging of batteries is at the forefront of optimizing intelligent transportation. This creates a need to validate the design of the structural battery packs, both in terms of life expectancy compared to design objectives as well as crash test compliance and survivability. Interface's solution to this challenge included the 1100 ultra-precision low-profile load cells, which were installed in series with hydraulic or electromechanical actuators in the customer's test bench. In addition, were 6A 6-axis load cells used to record the reactive forces transmitted through the packing structure. The multi-axis measurement enabled better insight into the system level and improved product success. The structural tests conducted with this solution confirmed the strong structural design of the battery packs.

Interface's intelligent transportation solutions grow with the pace of innovation as we collaborate with industry needs to find solutions for the future.

Read more in our case study Interface's Crucial Role in Vehicle and Urban Mobility Markets