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A speedometer or speed meter is a
gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...
that measures and displays the instantaneous
speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of pe ...
s, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment from about 1910 onwards. Other vehicles may use devices analogous to the speedometer with different means of sensing speed, eg. boats use a
pit log Pitometer logs (also known as pit logs) are devices used to measure a ship's speed relative to the water. They are used on both surface ships and submarines. Data from the pitometer log is usually fed directly into the ship's navigation system. H ...
, while aircraft use an
airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km ...
.
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...
is credited with creating an early type of a speedometer, which was usually fitted to
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s. The electric speedometer was invented by the
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
n
Josip Belušić Josip Belušić (March 12, 1847 - January 8, 1905) was a Croatian people, Croatian inventor and professor of physics and mathematics. He was born in the small settlement of Županići, in the region of Labin, Istria, and schooled in Pazin and Kope ...
in 1888 and was originally called a velocimeter.


Operation

The speedometer was originally patented by
Josip Belušić Josip Belušić (March 12, 1847 - January 8, 1905) was a Croatian people, Croatian inventor and professor of physics and mathematics. He was born in the small settlement of Županići, in the region of Labin, Istria, and schooled in Pazin and Kope ...
(Giuseppe Bellussich) in 1888. He presented his invention at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. His invention had a pointer and a magnet, using
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
to work. German inventor Otto Schultze patented his version (which, like Belušić's, ran on eddy currents) on 7 October 1902.


Mechanical

Many speedometers use a rotating
flexible cable Flexible cables, or 'continuous-flex' cables, are electrical cables specially designed to cope with the tight bending radii and physical stress associated with moving applications, such as inside cable carriers. Due to increasing demands withi ...
driven by gearing linked to the vehicle's transmission. The early Volkswagen Beetle and many motorcycles, however, use a cable driven from a front wheel. Some early mechanical speedometers operated on the governor principle where a rotating weight acting against a spring moved further out as the speed increased, similar to the governor used on steam engines. This movement was transferred to the pointer to indicate speed. This was followed by the Chronometric speedometer where the distance traveled was measured over a precise interval of time (Some Smiths speedometers used 3/4 of a second) measured by an escapement. This was transferred to the speedometer pointer. The chronometric speedometer is tolerant of vibration and was used in motorcycles up to the 1970s. The electric speedometer was invented by the Croatian Josip Belušić in 1888, and was originally called a velocimeter. When the vehicle is in motion, a speedometer gear assembly turns a speedometer cable, which then turns the speedometer mechanism itself. A small permanent magnet affixed to the speedometer cable interacts with a small aluminium cup (called a ''speedup'') attached to the shaft of the pointer on the analogue speedometer instrument. As the magnet rotates near the cup, the changing magnetic field produces
eddy current Eddy currents (also called Foucault's currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a magnet ...
in the cup, which itself produces another magnetic field. The effect is that the magnet exerts a
torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
on the cup, "dragging" it, and thus the speedometer pointer, in the direction of its rotation with no mechanical connection between them. The pointer shaft is held toward zero by a fine torsion spring. The torque on the cup increases with the speed of rotation of the magnet. Thus an increase in the speed of the car will twist the cup and speedometer pointer against the spring. The cup and pointer will turn until the torque of the eddy currents on the cup are balanced by the opposing torque of the spring, and then stop. Given the torque on the cup is proportional to the car's speed, and the spring's deflection is proportional to the torque, the angle of the pointer is also proportional to the speed, so that equally spaced markers on the dial can be used for gaps in speed. At a given speed, the pointer will remain motionless and point to the appropriate number on the speedometer's dial. The return spring is
calibrated In measurement technology and metrology, calibration is the comparison of measurement values delivered by a device under test with those of a calibration standard of known accuracy. Such a standard could be another measurement device of known ...
such that a given revolution speed of the cable corresponds to a specific speed indication on the speedometer. This calibration must take into account several factors, including ratios of the tail shaft gears that drive the flexible cable, the final drive ratio in the differential, and the diameter of the driven
tires A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
. One of the key disadvantages of the eddy current speedometer is that it cannot show the vehicle speed when running in reverse gear since the cup would turn in the opposite direction – in this scenario the needle would be driven against its mechanical stop pin on the zero position.


Electronic

Many modern speedometers are
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
. In designs derived from earlier eddy-current models, a rotation sensor mounted in the transmission delivers a series of electronic pulses whose frequency corresponds to the (average) rotational speed of the
driveshaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connec ...
, and therefore the vehicle's speed, assuming the wheels have full traction. The sensor is typically a set of one or more magnets mounted on the output shaft or (in transaxles) differential crown wheel, or a toothed metal disk positioned between a magnet and a magnetic field sensor. As the part in question turns, the magnets or teeth pass beneath the sensor, each time producing a pulse in the sensor as they affect the strength of the magnetic field it is measuring. Alternatively, particularly in vehicles with multiplex wiring, some manufacturers use the pulses coming from the ABS wheel sensors which communicate to the instrument panel via the
CAN Bus A Controller Area Network (CAN bus) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other's applications without a host computer. It is a message-based protocol, designed originally for mu ...
. Most modern electronic speedometers have the additional ability over the eddy current type to show the vehicle's speed when moving in reverse gear. A computer converts the pulses to a speed and displays this speed on an electronically controlled, analogue-style needle or a
digital display A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal t ...
. Pulse information is also used for a variety of other purposes by the ECU or full-vehicle control system, e.g. triggering ABS or traction control, calculating average trip speed, or increment the
odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...
in place of it being turned directly by the speedometer cable. Another early form of electronic speedometer relies upon the interaction between a precision watch mechanism and a mechanical pulsator driven by the car's wheel or transmission. The watch mechanism endeavours to push the speedometer pointer toward zero, while the vehicle-driven pulsator tries to push it toward infinity. The position of the speedometer pointer reflects the relative magnitudes of the outputs of the two mechanisms.


Bicycle speedometers

Typical bicycle speedometers measure the time between each wheel revolution and give a readout on a small, handlebar-mounted digital display. The sensor is mounted on the bike at a fixed location, pulsing when the spoke-mounted magnet passes by. In this way, it is analogous to an electronic car speedometer using pulses from an ABS sensor, but with a much cruder time/distance resolution – typically one pulse/display update per revolution, or as seldom as once every 2–3 seconds at low speed with a wheel. However, this is rarely a critical problem, and the system provides frequent updates at higher road speeds where the information is of more importance. The low pulse frequency also has little impact on measurement accuracy, as these digital devices can be programmed by wheel size, or additionally by wheel or tire circumference to make distance measurements more accurate and precise than a typical motor vehicle gauge. However these devices carry some minor disadvantages in requiring power from batteries that must be replaced every so often in the receiver (and sensor, for wireless models), and, in wired models, the signal is carried by a thin cable that is much less robust than that used for brakes, gears, or cabled speedometers. Other, usually older bicycle speedometers are cable driven from one or other wheel, as in the motorcycle speedometers described above. These do not require battery power, but can be relatively bulky and heavy, and may be less accurate. The turning force at the wheel may be provided either from a gearing system at the hub (making use of the presence of e.g. a hub brake, cylinder gear, or dynamo) as per a typical motorcycle, or with a friction wheel device that pushes against the outer edge of the rim (same position as rim brakes, but on the opposite edge of the fork) or the sidewall of the tire itself. The former type is quite reliable and low maintenance but needs a gauge and hub gearing properly matched to the rim and tire size, whereas the latter requires little or no calibration for a moderately accurate readout (with standard tires, the "distance" covered in each wheel rotation by a friction wheel set against the rim should scale fairly linearly with wheel size, almost as if it were rolling along the ground itself) but are unsuitable for off-road use, and must be kept properly tensioned and clean of road dirt to avoid slipping or jamming.


Error

Most speedometers have tolerances of some ±10%, mainly due to variations in tire diameter. Sources of error due to tire diameter variations are wear, temperature, pressure, vehicle load, and nominal tire size. Vehicle manufacturers usually calibrate speedometers to read high by an amount equal to the average error, to ensure that their speedometers never indicate a lower speed than the actual speed of the vehicle, to ensure they are not liable for drivers violating speed limits. Excessive speedometer errors after manufacture, can come from several causes but most commonly is due to nonstandard tire diameter, in which case the error is: \mbox = 100\times\left(1 - \frac \mbox \mbox\right) Nearly all tires now have their size is shown as "T/A_W" on the side of the tire (See:
Tire code Automotive tires are described by an alphanumeric tire code (in North American English) or tyre code (in Commonwealth English), which is generally molded into the sidewall of the tire. This code specifies the dimensions of the tire, and some ...
), and the tires. \mbox = 2 \times T \times A / 100 + W \times 25.4 \mbox = T \times A / 1270 + W For example, a standard tire is "185/70R14" with diameter = 2*185*(70/100)+(14*25.4) = 614.6 mm (185x70/1270 + 14 = 24.20 in). Another is "195/50R15" with 2*195*(50/100)+(15*25.4) = 576.0 mm (195x50/1270 + 15 = 22.68 in). Replacing the first tire (and wheels) with the second (on 15" = 381 mm wheels), a speedometer reads 100 * ((614.6/576) - 1) = 100 * (24.20/22.68 - 1) = 6.7% higher than the actual speed. At an actual speed of 100 km/h (60 mph), the speedometer will indicate 100 x 1.067 = 106.7 km/h (60 * 1.067 = 64.02 mph), approximately. In the case of wear, a new "185/70R14" tire of 620 mm (24.4 inch) diameter will have ≈8 mm tread depth, at legal limit this reduces to 1.6 mm, the difference being 12.8 mm in diameter or 0.5 inches which is 2% in 620 mm (24.4 inches).


International agreements

In many countries the legislated error in speedometer readings is ultimately governed by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and i ...
(UNECE) Regulation 39, which covers those aspects of vehicle type approval that relate to speedometers. The main purpose of the UNECE regulations is to facilitate trade in motor vehicles by agreeing on uniform type approval standards rather than requiring a vehicle model to undergo different approval processes in each country where it is sold.
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
member states must also grant type approval to vehicles meeting similar EU standards. The ones covering speedometers are similar to the UNECE regulation in that they specify that: * The indicated speed must never be less than the actual speed, i.e. it should not be possible to inadvertently speed because of an incorrect speedometer reading. * The indicated speed must not be more than 110 per cent of the true speed plus at specified test speeds. For example, at , the indicated speed must be no more than . The standards specify both the limits on accuracy and many of the details of how it should be measured during the approvals process. For example, the test measurements should be made (for most vehicles) at , and at a particular ambient temperature and road surface. There are slight differences between the different standards, for example in the minimum accuracy of the equipment measuring the true speed of the vehicle. The UNECE regulation relaxes the requirements for vehicles mass-produced following type approval. At Conformity of Production Audits the upper limit on indicated speed is increased to 110 per cent plus for cars, buses, trucks, and similar vehicles, and 110 per cent plus for two- or three-wheeled vehicles that have a maximum speed above (or a cylinder capacity, if powered by a
heat engine In thermodynamics and engineering, a heat engine is a system that converts heat to mechanical energy, which can then be used to do mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a higher state temperature to a lower state ...
, of more than ). European Union Directive 2000/7/EC, which relates to two- and three-wheeled vehicles, provides similar slightly relaxed limits in production.


Australia

There were no
Australian Design Rules The Australian Design Rules (ADRs) are Australia's national technical standards for vehicle safety, theft resistance, and emissions. They are largely based on and actively harmonised with the "ECE" regulations promulgated by the World Forum for ...
in place for speedometers in Australia before July 1988. They had to be introduced when speed cameras were first used. This means there are no legally accurate speedometers for these older vehicles. All vehicles manufactured on or after 1 July 2007, and all models of vehicle introduced on or after 1 July 2006, must conform to UNECE Regulation 39. The speedometers in vehicles manufactured before these dates but after 1 July 1995 (or 1 January 1995 for forward control passenger vehicles and off-road passenger vehicles) must conform to the previous Australian design rule. This specifies that they need only display the speed to an accuracy of ±10% at speeds above 40 km/h, and there is no specified accuracy at all for speeds below 40 km/h. All vehicles manufactured in Australia or imported for supply to the Australian market must comply with the Australian Design Rules. The state and territory governments may set policies for the tolerance of speed over the posted speed limits that may be lower than the 10% in the earlier versions of the Australian Design Rules permitted, such as in Victoria. This has caused some controversy since it would be possible for a driver to be unaware that they are speeding should their vehicle be fitted with an under-reading speedometer.


United Kingdom

The amended Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 permits the use of speedometers that meet either the requirements of EC Council Directive 75/443 (as amended by Directive 97/39) or UNECE Regulation 39. The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001 permits single vehicles to be approved. As with the UNECE regulation and the EC Directives, the speedometer must never show an indicated speed less than the actual speed. However, it differs slightly from them in specifying that for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph. For example, if the vehicle is actually traveling at 50 mph, the speedometer must not show more than 61.25 mph or less than 50 mph.


United States

Federal standards in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
allow a maximum 5 mph error at a speed of 50 mph on speedometer readings for commercial vehicles. Aftermarket modifications, such as different tire and wheel sizes or different differential gearing, can cause speedometer inaccuracy.


Regulation in the US

Starting with U.S. automobiles manufactured on or after 1 September 1979, the
NHTSA The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...
required speedometers to have a special emphasis on 55 mph and display no more than a maximum speed of 85 mph. On 25 March 1982, the NHTSA revoked the rule because no "significant safety benefits" could come from maintaining the standard.


GPS

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
devices can measure speeds in two ways: # The first and simpler method is based on how far the receiver has moved since the last measurement. Such speed calculations are not subject to the same sources of error as the vehicle's speedometer (wheel size, transmission/drive ratios). Instead, the GPS's positional accuracy, and therefore the accuracy of its calculated speed, is dependent on the satellite signal quality at the time. Speed calculations will be more accurate at higher speeds when the ratio of positional error to positional change is lower. The GPS software may also use a
moving average In statistics, a moving average (rolling average or running average) is a calculation to analyze data points by creating a series of averages of different subsets of the full data set. It is also called a moving mean (MM) or rolling mean and is ...
calculation to reduce error. Some GPS devices do not take into account the vertical position of the car so will under-report the speed by the road's gradient. # Alternatively, the GPS may take advantage of the Doppler effect to estimate its velocity. In ideal conditions, the accuracy for commercial devices is within 0.2–0.5 km/h, but it may worsen if the signal quality degrades. As mentioned in the
satnav A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...
article, GPS data has been used to overturn a speeding ticket; the GPS logs showed the defendant traveling below the speed limit when they were ticketed. That the data came from a GPS device was likely less important than the fact that it was logged; logs from the vehicle's speedometer could likely have been used instead, had they existed.


See also

*
Airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km ...
*
GM Instrument Cluster Settlement The GM Instrument Cluster Settlement was a 2008 class action settlement awarded to owners of certain General Motors vehicles with allegedly defective speedometers. The settlement allows the owner or lessee to get their instrument cluster replaced un ...
*
Hubometer A hubometer (''hub'', center of a wheel + ''-ometer'', measure of), or hubodometer or simply hubo, is a device mounted on the axle of an automobile or other land vehicle that measures distance traveled. The whole device rotates with the wheel ...
*
List of vehicle instruments Vehicle instrument is an instrument that measures some parameters in the vehicle, often found on its control panel or dashboard. Types * Speedometer *Tachometer * Odometer * Trip odometer *Oil pressure gauge * Coolant Temperature gauge * Batt ...
*
Taximeter A taximeter or fare meter is a mechanical or electronic device installed in taxicabs and auto rickshaws that calculates passenger fares based on a combination of distance travelled and waiting time. Its shortened form, "taxi", is also a metony ...


References


External links


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