Vehicle wheel alignment system and methodology

Abstract

A hybrid wheel alignment system and methodology use passive targets for a first pair of wheels (e.g. front wheels) and active sensing heads for another pair of wheels (e.g. rear wheels). The active sensing heads combine image sensors for capturing images of the targets with at least one spatial relationship sensor for sensing a relationship between the active sensing heads. One or both of the active sensing heads may include inclinometers or the like, for sensing one or more tilt angles of the respective sensing head. Data from the active sensing heads may be sent to a host computer for processing to derive one or more vehicle measurements, for example, for measurement of parameters useful in wheel alignment applications.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wheel alignment system, comprising:
 a first passive head, comprised of a first target, for mounting in association with a wheel of a vehicle for use in measuring an alignment of the wheel by operation of the wheel alignment system;   a second passive head, comprised of a second target, for mounting in association with a vehicle support surface for use in measuring a characteristic of the vehicle support surface by operation of the wheel alignment system; and   at least one active sensing head comprised of a two dimensional image sensor for producing image data including a representation of a perspective image of at least one of the first and second targets,   wherein a processor of the active sensing head is configured to receive the image data from the at least one active sensing head, and to calculate alignment values indicative of the alignment of the wheel based on the received image data.