Development and Testing of a Low-Cost Wireless Monitoring System for an Intelligent Tire

Intelligent tire concept constitutes one of the approaches to increase the accuracy of active safety systems in vehicle technology. The possibility of detecting tire-road interactions instantaneously has made these systems one of the most important research areas in automotive engineering. This study introduces the use of cost-effective flex and polyvinylidene fluoride strain sensors to estimate some dynamic tire features in free-rolling and real working conditions. The proposed solution combines a microcontroller-based readout circuit for the two sensors with a wireless data transmission system. A suitable prototype was realized and first experimental tests were conducted, in the laboratory as well as on the road. The energy consumption of the wireless monitoring system was optimized. Simulated and experimental results validate the proposed solution.