Measuring the inertia tensor of vehicles

A new method for measuring the inertia tensor of rigid bodies has been developed and used for vehicle system dynamics applications. In the first part of the paper a brief state-of-the-art is presented referring to methods for measuring the inertia tensor of vehicles (or other rigid bodies). A number of test-rigs (presented in the literature) are classified and compared. In the second part of the paper a new test-rig, studied and built at the Politecnico di Milano, is introduced. The test-rig allows to measure the inertia tensor of vehicles (of mass up to 3500 kg, or more, after a proper adjustment). The rig is basically a three or four bar pendulum hanging from the ceiling and carrying, by means of a rigid frame the rigid body under investigation, e.g. a full road vehicle. The motion of the hanging vehicle is recorded by means of accelerometers, gyroscopes and inclinometers. The recorded data are numerically processed in order to indentify the full inertia tensor of the vehicle body. The paper presents both the main technical features of the test-rig and samples of results coming from experimental researches.