A Strain-Based Intelligent Tire to Detect Contact Patch Features for Complex Maneuvers.

Area of Science:

• Automotive Engineering
• Sensor Technology
• Vehicle Dynamics

Background:

• Tires are critical for vehicle safety, transmitting forces and absorbing shocks.
• Real-time tire-road interaction data can significantly improve vehicle safety.
• Current understanding of dynamic wheel behavior parameters is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the tire as an active sensor for functional parameter detection.
• To compute wheel velocity, effective rolling radius, and contact length using strain-based measurements.
• To enhance the definition of dynamic wheel behavior.

Main Methods:

• Strain-based measurements on the tire contact patch.
• Development of an algorithm to compute dynamic wheel parameters.
• Experimental testing under varying tire operational conditions (slip angle, vertical load, rolling velocity).
• Fuzzy logic system for estimating effective radius and contact length.
• Verification using CarSim simulation software for complex maneuvers.

Main Results:

• An algorithm was developed to compute wheel velocity, effective rolling radius, and contact length.
• Experimental data demonstrated the influence of operational conditions on computed parameters.
• A fuzzy logic system successfully estimated effective radius and contact length.
• CarSim simulations verified the system's performance in complex maneuvers.

Conclusions:

• Tires can be effectively utilized as active sensors to provide crucial functional parameters.
• The developed algorithm and fuzzy logic system enable accurate estimation of dynamic wheel behavior.
• This research contributes to enhanced vehicle safety through improved tire-road interaction monitoring.