LAUSR

Abstract Precise online calibration of Wheel force transducer/sensor (WFT) is difficult due to the safety risk of large-scale (kN and kN.m) mass attached on a rolling wheel, the impossibility of applying many loads at precise orientations of the transducer, and the difficulty to avoid the interference under the wheel rotation conditions. To tackle these problems, this paper presents an effective yet fast on-site WFT calibration by using an embedded triaxial accelerometer under the vehicle’s gravitational loading conditions. A basic linear model of least-square calibration for the transducer is introduced, followed by the proposed new error model of online calibration. Experiments are performed by the gravitational load of vehicle itself, and compared with the wagon balance to verify the calibration protocol. The tested results demonstrate that the proposed technique provides an accurate, practical, and effective technique for on-line calibrating the WFTs.