Andrew Groszek, UQ
Heavy objects like trucks, trains and shipping containers are typically weighed using devices known as weighbridges, which determine an object’s mass by measuring its downward force due to gravity. Unfortunately, these devices are slow to use, usually immobile, and provide no information about how mass is spatially distributed within the object.
We propose a technology that will instead weigh large objects using non-contact measurements of its gravitational field. This technology will provide both mass and mass distribution information, and is anticipated to have much lower size, weight and power requirements than existing weighbridges.
Using numerical modelling, we have confirmed that it is possible to reconstruct the approximate mass distribution of a truck and determine its overall mass to >99% precision from a finite number of measurements of its gravitational field. The modelling has also provided information about the configuration and sensitivty of sensors that would be required to achieve this. In the next stage of the project, we will obtain a small number of sensors and build a device to perform a proof-of-principle demonstration of this technique.
About the presenter
Andrew Groszek is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow working with CI Matthew Davis at the University of Queensland. Andrew is theoretically investigating the dynamics of one-dimensional ultracold gases under periodic driving. The goal of his research is to use these systems to explore quantum phase transitions. His work falls under Research Theme 3, light-transformed materials.