AUBURN – The Automotive Technology Department at Central Maine Community College officially unveiled its new chassis dynamometer at an event held recently at the college.

The precision-measuring machine, produced by the Land and Sea Co. of New Hampshire, “is truly a state-of-the-art tool with many faces,” said Paul Gagnon, chairman of the college automotive program.

The dynamometer enables students and technicians to perform high speed power and road load simulation without leaving the garage. It can simulate driving conditions such as vehicle momentum, air drag and rolling friction.

Operators can enter the vehicle’s weight and drag data and allow the software to monitor MPH vs. horsepower. The machine can also measure all five auto emissions, torque and acceleration; humidity and barometric pressure; engine load, RPM and throttle position.

Prior to acquiring the dynamometer, the only way to conduct such tests was to do time-consuming and risky road excursions. Now students just need to park and secure the vehicle on the unit, run the test and print out a report.

The dynamometer software creates a full vehicle dashboard that can be displayed on the unit console or PC. It can also be viewed or controlled at a remote site through a computer or a wireless, handheld device such as a Blackberry.

The unit is also flexible – it can handle rear, front and four-wheel drive vehicles ranging from 89″ to 147″ in wheelbase. It can test vehicles up to 200 mph and 1,500 horsepower.

Gagnon said the dynamometer should also prove attractive to the automotive repair industry for training purposes.

Because of its flexibility and sophistication, the dynamometer, which was purchased with federal grant funds, is also serving to address the growing number of students who are interested in racing and high performance vehicles.

In the near future, the college hopes to offer a high performance concentration to the automotive technology associate degree.

“This machine will allow us to conduct many vehicle experiments that we could never do on the road,” said Gagnon. “Our students will be able to baseline a vehicle and introduce elements that can improve or decrease its performance. It is truly a platform for scientific research.”