Gadget Freak Case #127: Gadget Keeps Suspension Even

Design News Staff -- Design News, October 6, 2008

Gadget Freak James Kinney was looking for a way to take the pressure off the back end of a tow truck when it’s carrying a heavy load. If you can equalize the pressure of the truck bed so all the weight is not on the back end, there will be less stress to the truck’s suspension system. Kinney developed the air suspension system, called the Mechatronic Microcontroller, in his mechatronics’ class at Colorado State University. The gadget uses a resistive touchscreen from an electronic Sudoku game to select the ride height of the tow truck’s bed to make it level, thus spreading the stress of the towing weight evenly across the truck’s suspension.

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Amt Part Description Allied Part # 3 PIC16f88 383-0496 9 NPN Transistor TO-92 568-0292 4 NPN Transistor TO-3 935-8099 4 NPN Transistor TO-220 935-7007 10 1K Ω Resistor 648-0149 3 5k Potentiometer 522-0044 9 10M Ω Resistor 296-6163 5 330ΩResistor 296-4698 2 5V Regulator 288-0479 10 0.01 uF Capacitor 507-0721 1 7-Segment Display 670-0033 1 20 x 4 Character LCD 355-0019 2 Speaker 623-2146 1 Operational Amplifier 288-0544

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Talkback

Aside from the facts [see Don's comments], I was a bit bewildered by this project. My...
Michael Dunn - 2008-10-20 15:16:45
Just levelilng out the bed does not spread out the load or stresses. More air pressure is used to...
Donald Landis Sr. - 2008-10-07 07:57:04

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