Vehicle Tire Radius Monitoring via Wheel-GPS Ratio
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for monitoring vehicle tire inflation pressure and wear, especially in rented vehicles, often fail to detect improper tire changes or abuses due to the lack of sensors, leading to incorrect assessments and difficulties in identifying significant tire radius changes.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses wheel sensors and GPS to determine individual wheel distances over time, forming a ratio value by comparing these distances with a reference distance, allowing for the detection of significant tire radius changes, such as those caused by tire wear or leaks, without additional hardware or sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If tire monitoring is performed without additional sensors, then cost is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes existing wheel sensors serve a dual function: their primary function for ABS braking control and an additional function for tire radius monitoring. By processing the same sensor signals through a different algorithm (comparing integrated wheel distances with GPS reference distance), the system achieves tire change detection without adding dedicated monitoring sensors, thus resolving the contradiction between cost and measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's own existing infrastructure (wheel sensors and GPS) to perform tire monitoring. The control unit processes data already being collected for other vehicle functions, eliminating the need for external monitoring equipment while maintaining detection capability
2Device complexity
If wheel sensors are used to determine wheel distances, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to turning and slip variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces GPS reference distance as an intermediary element to mediate between the wheel sensor measurements and the actual vehicle distance. The GPS provides an independent reference that is not affected by wheel slip or turning variations, allowing the system to compensate for sensor inaccuracies and improve reliability while using simple existing components
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously compares wheel sensor-derived distances with GPS reference distances, creating a feedback mechanism that validates and corrects measurements. This comparison allows the system to detect when wheel slip or turning causes significant deviations, improving the reliability of tire radius change detection
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for checking vehicle tires, wheel sensor signals of at least one wheel of the vehicle are recorded over a time period, and a comparative value is determined to indicate a travel distance of the wheel. A reference travel distance covered by the vehicle in the time period is determined independently of the wheel sensor signals, and an individual ratio value of the wheel is formed from the wheel travel distance and the reference travel distance. The behavior of the ratio value over time is determined, and a determination is made concerning changes to the tire of the wheel.