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Description
Simple pendulum and mass-spring models are directly analogous to instruments used to measure vehicle braking efficiency at MOT testing centres. The "programme draws on these analogies by looki...ng at the model and its mathematical principles, and then at the actual instrument and its application in brake testing using OB sequences shot at the Government vehicle testing centre at Hendon. According to Newton's second law, braking efficiency can be found by measuring either force or acceleration. The programme starts by looking at force. The simple mathematical model has to be rebuilt to account for the complexities of measuring acceleration of an oscillating mass which is the principle behind the seismic mass accelerometer. Ron Etherington demonstrates one application of this instrument in passenger comfort tests or buses. Such instruments have to be damped to give a smooth signal and different types of damping are considered. The programme ends with a look at a new type of brake tester - the roller brake tester - which measures force, thus returning full circle to the start of the programme. Clifford Toyne from the Dept. of Transport explains why this new test is considered better than using decelerometers.
Metadata describing this Open University video programme
Module code and title: TM281, Modelling by mathematics
Item code: TM281; 09
First transmission date: 23-08-1977
Published: 1977
Rights Statement:
Restrictions on use:
Duration: 00:24:30
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Producer: Colin Robinson
Contributors: Keith Attenborough; Ron Etherington; Clifford Toyne
Publisher: BBC Open University
Keyword(s): Accelerometer; Braking efficiency; Damping; Newtons Second Law
Master spool number: 6HT/72511
Production number: 00525_5293
Videofinder number: 775
Available to public: no