Abstract

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were

3,900 fatalities and 104,000 individuals injured as a result of truck crashes in 2012. One
common reason for catastrophic injuries in truck collisions is a driver's loss of control of
an overweight or overloaded truck.
Both federal and state laws include weight restrictions for trucks. Some states
permit trucks to exceed this weight, but only with a special permit. If the rules regarding
weight and overloading are broken and result in a serious truck accident, the victim or
victims can bring a lawsuit for damages.
Truck manufacturers assign a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, and it is noted on a
truck's plate. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is calculated by rating brakes, axels,
frame, suspension, and power train. No truck may carry more weight than is permitted by
the rating and should not exceed a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 80,000 pounds, with
certain exceptions permitted for intrastate trucks. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration maintains that if a truck does not have a plate, enforcement officers
should assume a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 26,001 or more pounds.
Truck drivers are expected to make regular use of weigh stations located along
trucking routes in order to make sure they are not exceeding the truck's Gross Vehicle
Weight Rating. Some drivers, however, do not actually lighten their load when the station
indicates that the truck is overweight.
The study aims to monitor the weight of class one vehicles and evaluate if the
vehicle is beyond its gross vehicle weight. Class one vehicles are subdivided into four
main subclasses to further reduce the weight limit of the different types of vehicles under
class one. The proponents have used the PIC16F877A Microcontroller with various
sensors. The use of ultrasonic distance sensor was used to determine the height for the
differentiation of the subclass while four load cells were used to acquire the weight. The
Analog-to-Digital (ADC) of the microcontroller was used to convert the analog signals
from the load cells to output the weight of the vehicle. The actual weight, reference
weight, subclass and remarks are all outputted in a display board for the driver to see.

A Microcontroller-Based Automated Weight Monitoring System