Large trucks tip over more often than you might expect. There are many reasons: be it a strong wind,
When a truck trailer rolls over, it catches the front of the cab, slamming it sideways into the ground. If the driver survives, there is nothing he can do to stop the car except wait.
Californian company Axicle intends to solve the problem.
Axicle
New TARS (Tractor Anti-Roll System)Fifth wheel coupling includes a set of sensors, fast-acting smart sensors and a quick-release rescue structure. It is designed to completely reset the trailer if it loses its balance. The driver remains in a safe upright position and is able to steer the cab. The system will save money for trucking companies and insurers.
The TARS system is not very different from a conventional fifth wheel. Axicle
Intelligent system with sensors collect everythingkinds of operating parameters, including information on load, vibration, wind and traction, as well as a high-precision inertial measurement unit. If TARS detects a trailer rollover, it fires a pneumatic or linear actuator in a millisecond and dumps the trailer from the rear of the truck.
Fifth wheel coupling ("Saddle" or "fifth wheel" colloquially) - provides docking (coupling) of the semi-trailer withtractor, taking on part of the weight of the semi-trailer. Based on its presence, tractors are called truck tractors. It is a load-carrying plate having one (in the longitudinal plane) or two (in the longitudinal and transverse planes) degrees of freedom, with an angular slot for the entry of a king pin installed on the supporting surface of the semi-trailer, which serves to couple the semi-trailer with the tractor, and is also the bending axis of the road train when turning. The coupling-fixing mechanism is located under the base plate.
Axicle says it will have full-size prototypes by the end of the year that will be tested under heavy load.
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