The speedometer measures a vehicle’s speed and has evolved from analog to electronic technology, providing more accuracy and reliability. Electronic speedometers use a rotation sensor to calculate speed, RPM, and distance driven. They are found on many vehicles, including motorcycles and aircraft.
The speedometer is an essential component of any motor vehicle because it measures its speed. For nearly a century, analog equipment was used to measure how fast a vehicle was moving, until electronic speedometer technology became available. These devices provide more accuracy and reliability than previous models, but maintain the familiar design of a traditional speedometer. In addition to speed, electronic speedometers measure RPM and even distance driven with digital precision. Today, these devices are found on many wheeled and non-wheeled vehicles.
A speedometer is a device for measuring the speed of a vehicle and typically measures that speed by causing a needle to move along a circular path, like a clock hand, indicating how fast an engine propels a vehicle. The first speedometers, used in the early 1900s, had a swivel cable attached to the motor drive. The electronic speedometer, first used in the 1980s, can resemble a traditional speedometer or be an LCD display of numbers. It also takes readings from the transmission, but in a much different way.
The electronic speedometer relies on an electronic rotation sensor located near the engine transmission. The sensor is usually a toothed metal disk placed between the coil and the magnetic field sensor. As the motor runs, the magnetic field delivers a pulse to the sensor. The emitted pulses correspond to the speed of rotation of the drive shaft. This data is fed into the speedometer’s internal computer and calculated by converting rotations to miles or kilometers per hour.
Modern speedometers do not rely on analog methods to read driveshaft rotation, so these devices provide more accurate readings. Another benefit of the electric sensor, compared to the rotary cable, is longevity because traditional speedometers would wear out much faster. Electronic speedometers also provide tachometer and odometer readings with equal accuracy. For these reasons, many older vehicles trade analog models for electronic speedometers.
An electronic speedometer is commonly considered a part of cars and trucks. This is true, because almost all modern cars use electronic speed measuring devices, but it’s not the only place where these tools are used. An electronic motorcycle speedometer is another common sight with two-wheelers. Also, aircraft accurately measure airspeed with these tools, just like motor boats.
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