WHAT CAN THE DIAGNOSTIC CLEAT DO? A diagnostic cleat outfitted with sensors can be used to check for car maintenance issues like misalignment, wheel imbalance, tire pressure, as well as other anomalies or maintenance needs. Though currently designed for use by military vehicles, it could be adopted to be used in driveways or at car dealerships for troubleshooting passenger cars.
WHAT'S AN ACCELEROMETER? A small device that measures the acceleration relative to freefall is called an accelerometer. Typically they are very small devices that help everything from smartphones to gyroscopes orient themselves in space. The simplest ones are a beam with a weight on one end, enclosed inside a capsule of gas. Moving an object with an accelerometer attached causes the beam to bend. This deflection can be converted into a measure of acceleration. These devices are used in bridges, pedometers, medical applications, amateur rocketry, and all sorts of consumer electronics.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.-USA, contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.