A portable weigh-in-motion system developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is near ready for action as field testing is under way. While because of human error conventional portable systems can be off by 14 percent or more, the system developed by a team led by Bob Abercrombie of the lab's Computational Sciences and Engineering Division has demonstrated zero percent error and unprecedented consistency. The ORNL hardware and software system automatically identifies the equipment, determines the individual axle weights, distance between axles, total vehicle weight, profile and center of balance as the vehicle passes over the weighing pads. The system prevents mistakes common to methods that rely on manual scales, tape measures, calculators, paper and pencil. With military missions all over the world, transporting vehicles safely and efficiently is critical, and the ORNL weigh-in-motion system addresses a great need. Field testing began at Fort Eustis and will continue at Fort Bragg, Fort Drum and nine other sites. The Department of Defense has funded development of the weigh-in-motion technology, which has potential applications by the Department of Homeland Security.
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