ABSTRACT
A load cell is a force-measuring device: a transducer that converts a force or load into an electrical signal. Even a small vehicle with an engine compartment 2 ft high, and a width of 5 ft, for example, has a cross-section area of at least 10 ft2 that comes into contact with the barrier face. Even if the forces were uniformly distributed, this is too large an area to be handled by a single load cell. Moreover, the forces are distributed far from uniformly, and it is this very lack of evenness that is of interest for a variety of reasons, ranging from vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility issues to the development and validation of computer models.
