NWTN

NWTN (Newton) took a second look at a seemingly “finished” product - portable vehicle scales. Together with the Swedish police I got the opportunity to take a closer look at how the van of the road safety unit looks like. What immediately stood out: Half of the truck was packed with 10-12 huge scales, each weighing 25kg. Therefor police officers must drive around and setup 250kg of scales every day, often multiple times a day in different locations, a very physically demanding task. What if every police car could be equipped with a smaller and lighter vehicle weighing device and be available at any time?

NWTN utilizes a basic physics principle where you can calculate the weight of a car by measuring the tires air-pressure and the contact area between the tire and the road. This measurement process can be done without putting NWTN under the wheel, next to it is enough. So, a single device and measuring each wheel in sequence is sufficient - eliminating the need for 12 heavy scales. Furthermore, it needs to be less sturdy, because it doesn’t need to hold up to the weight of a 40-ton truck. This completely different approach leads to seemingly insane ergonomic and usability improvements. If you compare a single NWTN device to a full standard set of vehicle scales. Compared to a full set the weight can be reduced by 98% and the size by 95%, so NWTN can be stored in any regular police car.

To keep NWTN in service as long as possible in demanding environments, all the sensors can easily be replaced or upgraded with one tool, similar to all the impact absorbing parts like bumpers. Even the screen has been replaced with a unshatterable LED-Matrix. An idea to keep and keep you safe!