Thispapertalksaboutcarwheelalignment.Wheelalignmentisveryimportant.Itaffectshowthecardrives.Itaffectssafety.Itaffectstirelife.Manycarshavealignmentproblems.Thiscausesuneventirewear.Thecarmaypulltooneside.Thesteeringwheelmayshake.Thedrivermayfeeluncomfortable.Thisprojectaimstofixtheseproblems.Wewanttofindagoodwaytocheckalignment.Wewanttomakeasystemtomeasureitwell.

Carshavefourwheels.Thewheelsmustpointtherightway.Theanglesmustbecorrect.Therearethreemainangles.Theyarecamber,caster,andtoe.Camberisthetiltofthewheel.Itcanbepositiveornegative.Casteristheangleofthesteeringpivot.Ithelpswithstability.Toeishowmuchthewheelsturninorout.Iftheseanglesarewrong,thecarhasproblems.Weneedtomeasurethemcorrectly.

Webuiltasystemtomeasuretheangles.Weusedsensorsandacomputer.Thesystemchecksthewheelpositions.Itgivesnumbersforcamber,caster,andtoe.Wetestedmanycars.Wefoundcarswithbadalignment.Werecordedthedata.Wecomparedittothegoodvalues.Thegoodvaluesarefromthecarmaker.

Wefoundcommonproblems.Manycarshavewrongtoesettings.Thiscausesfasttirewear.Somecarshavecamberissues.Thismakesthecarpulltooneside.Wefixedtheproblems.Weadjustedthewheels.Wemadetheanglesright.Afterfixing,thecarsdrovebetter.Thetireslastedlonger.Thesteeringwasstraight.

Thisprojectshowsasimplewaytodoalignment.Thesystemworkswell.Itisnottooexpensive.Manyrepairshopscanuseit.Ithelpsmechanicsdotheirjob.Ithelpscarownerssavemoney.Goodalignmentmeanssaferdriving.Italsomeanslesstirewaste.Thisisgoodfortheenvironment.

Westudiedthemeasurementprocess.Welookedatdifferentcarmodels.Eachmodelhasitsownspecs.Wemadealistofthesespecs.Thelisthelpsthemechanic.Hecanlookupthecorrectvalues.Hecansetthewheelsright.

Thesystemuseslasersensors.Lasersareaccurate.Theymeasuresmallchanges.Thedatagoestoasoftwareprogram.Theprogramshowstheanglesonascreen.Themechanicseesthenumbers.Heseesiftheyaregreenorred.Greenmeansgood.Redmeansbad.Hethenmakesadjustments.Heturnstheboltsonthesuspension.Hechangestheangles.Hechecksthescreenagain.Hekeepsadjustinguntilallnumbersaregreen.

Wetestedthesystemmanytimes.Wecheckeditsrepeatability.Theresultswereconsistent.Thesamecargavethesamenumberseachtime.Thismeansthesystemisreliable.Mechanicscantrustit.

Wealsothoughtaboutcost.Agoodsystemmustbeaffordable.Weusedcommonparts.Wekeptthedesignsimple.Thetotalcostislow.Smallrepairshopscanbuyit.Thishelpsmorepeoplegetproperalignmentservice.

Inmanyplaces,peopleignorewheelalignment.Theyonlyfixitwhenaproblemisbig.Thisisnotgood.Itcanleadtoaccidents.Itcostsmoremoneyinthelongrun.Ourprojecthelpspeopleunderstandalignment.Itshowswhyitisimportant.Itprovidesacheapsolution.

Wehopemoreshopswillusethismethod.Wehopedriverswillcheckalignmentregularly.Thismakesroadssaferforeveryone.Italsosavesresources.Thisworkisusefulforthecarrepairindustry.Itisastepforwardinvehiclemaintenance.