Vehicle braking technique evaluation apparatus

Vehicle braking technique evaluation apparatus for measuring driver performance as a vehicle is being driven through a test course, the vehicle having a pressurized fluid braking system and means for applying a pressure to said fluid for slowing and stopping the vehicle at appropriate locations in the course, said evaluation apparatus comprising:

• a pressure transducer connected in parallel with said vehicle braking system and responsive to said pressure for generating a signal representing a magnitude of said pressure;
• a analog-to-digital converter responsive to said signal for generating a plurality of digital words, each of said plurality of digital words representing the magnitude of said pressure at a point in time;
• a magnetic disk storage responsive to said digital words for temporarily storing said words;
• a computer for coordinating and controlling the transfer of words from said analog-to-digital converter to said disk storage;
• and
• means responsive to said stored digital words for printing a graphical representation of said pressure over a predetermined period of time.

Apparatus for measuring brake synchronization in a multiple brake vehicle, the vehicle having a pressurized fluid braking system and means for applying a pressure to said fluid for actuating each of a plurality of individual brake units, said brake synchronization apparatus comprising:

• means connected to said pressurized fluid braking system near said applying means for generating a first signal representing a magnitude of said pressure at said applying means;
• means connected to said pressurized fluid braking system for generating a second plurality of signals, each of said second plurality of signals representing a magnitude of said pressure at one of said plurality of individual brake units;
• means for converting said first signal into a first plurality of digital words, said first plurality of digital words representing the magnitude of said pressure at said applying means at different points in time over a predetermined period of time;
• means for converting each of said second plurality of signals into a second plurality of digital words, said second plurality of digital words representing the magnitude of said pressure at each of said plurality of individual brake units at different points in time over said predetermined period of time
• means responsive to said first plurality of digital words and said second plurality of digital words for temporarily storing said first plurality of digital words and said second plurality of digital words;
• and
• means responsive to said stored digital words for printing a graphical representation of said pressure over a predetermined period of time, said graphical representation including separate traces representing the pressure at said applying means and at each of said plurality of individual brake units as a function of time.