Universal Tire Sensor Debuts

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.--Siemens Automotive has developed a tire pressure monitoring system that is universal for all standard tires. The system will be making its official market debut on an unnamed 2002 European vehicle.

“This potentially is one of the best solutions to customer tire safety concerns and the impending legislation requiring pressure sensors to be standard on motor vehicles,” said Jean Christophe Deniau, Siemens’ automotive business development engineer. “Unlike several other sensors under development in the market, the Siemens solution also tracks the temperature inside the tire, measures finite acceleration and is capable of automated identification of individual tire locations.”

By monitoring a tire’s internal temperature, acceleration through rotation speed, as well as pressure, the system:

• Allows data specific to each tire to be compared for inconsistencies within safety and operational parameters;

• Interval times between data updates can be automatically maximized for near-real time monitoring or minimized when the vehicle is parked to prolong battery and sensor life; and,

• Is capable of automatically relocating individual wheel positions when tires undergo routine maintenance, such as rotation or replacement.

The system can be integrated into vehicles as a stand-alone application or synergistically combined with existing Siemens remote entry and security products.

The stand-alone system utilizes a pressure sensor with a transmitter mounted in the rim flange of each wheel. The sensor can be adapted to fit a standard OEM rim and allows all areas of the surface to be used in the tire mounting process.

Behind the dashboard, a control unit integrated with a receiver and an internal or external antenna gathers and processes the transmitted pressure, temperature and acceleration information.

In an effort to combat vehicle cost and weight penalties usually associated with implementing new technologies, the tire pressure monitoring system can be integrated with existing Siemens remote keyless entry technology. Using the same pressure sensor as the stand-alone solution, this cost-effective approach eliminates the need to redesign existing technology or to install an additional receiver and electronic control unit.

Installing the product’s software into an existing Siemens remote keyless entry electronic control unit enables its antenna and receiver to be used to process transmitted tire pressure information, which is then sent to a driver display.

“The tire pressure information can be displayed as a basic dashboard light alerting the driver to a developing situation,” said Deniau. “Or it can be as detailed as an overhead console readout complete with tire diagnostic data and pinpoint location information.”

Combining the functions of the Siemens remote keyless entry system and the new tire sensor system “maximizes each technology’s capabilities to use less hardware and utilize existing components to create cost advantages,” he noted.