Novel Sensor System for Real-Time Mapping of a Tactical Vehicle"s Weight and Center of Gravity

The United States Marine Corps is seeking a method to reliably monitor a tactical vehicle"s weight and center of gravity (W & CG), real-time, using an integrated on-board system. Such a W & CG mapping system would increase vehicle state awareness providing for optimal performance and safer operation. Also, by monitoring W & CG, a vehicle can be safely loaded up to its optimal payload without exceeding gross weight limits, thereby increasing vehicle/transport efficiency. Mainstream believes that the optimum solution incorporates a novel measurement system to quantify the force applied to each tire. This method of measuring the force, in concert with a proprietary monitoring algorithm, will continuously yield the vehicle weight and, conditionally yield, the CG position. However, in order to pinpoint the vertical CG position, an additional dynamic test may be required. The system will also allow for user-input to dictate load type, in effort to circumvent the need for a dynamic test. The final system output would display the most recent weight and CG component predictions, from the continuously updating system.