National Aerospace Laboratory of Science Technology Agency

Tokuo Sotozaki

Takashi Kai

Tetsuhiko Ueda

Provided is a road surface friction coefficient measuring method and device for measuring the friction coefficient of road surfaces such as roads and runways, and which can be used by being mounted on a general car. This device has a spindle detachably connected to the wheel of a travelling wheel of a car, a support arm oscillatably connected to the spindle, and a measuring wheel supported rotatably by the support arm. Provided to the support arm are a vertical load generating mechanism for applying a vertical load to be added to the self weight of the measuring wheel , a first detection unit for detecting the vertical load that is applied to the measuring wheel from the road surface, a rotation transmission mechanism for transmitting to the measuring wheel the rotation of the spindle so as to provide a circumferential velocity difference between the travelling wheel and the measuring wheel, and a second detection unit for detecting the rotational resistance incurred by the measuring wheel from the road surface. The road surface friction coefficient is calculated with a computing unit based on the self weight of the measuring vehicle including the detected values of these detection units and the arm.

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Higashikurume, Japan

Tokuo Sotozaki