Inertial Road Profilers, like the Profilographs that came before them, measure the longitudinal profile of a road in order to determine the smoothness of that road. Profilographs, however, had some major downfalls that Profilers seek to correct. Whereas a Profilograph is limited to walking speed, Profilers are capable of speeds anywhere from 10 miles per hour up to highway speeds, depending on the model. There are improvements in the data being collected as well. A profilograph has a strange response curve which can cause some features to be exaggerated and others under-represented, while Profilers have a predictable reponse curve which is much closer to the actual road.

A High Speed Profiler is just that, a profiler that operates at highway speeds. They are typically mounted to the front or back of a pickup truck or van. These are useful because data can be collected very quickly and without closing off lanes to traffic.

Lightweight Profilers, on the other hand, are a lightweight version of a profiler meant for surfaces that would be damaged by a heavy truck driving over them. They are limited to about 20 miles per hour. Other than that, they operate the same as our High Speed Profilers.