The latest innovation to emerge from Milan is the Cyber Tyre: an intelligent tyre that provides vital information about vehicle performance and road conditions, as well as the tyre’s status, thanks to a sophisticated sensor embedded in the structure. This data is conveyed to the driver as well as to the car’s electronics, helping improve safety and efficiency.
At the heart of Cyber Tyre is an autonomous electronic sensor that measures around a centimetre squared, which reads the road and its interaction with the tyre, ‘talking’ in real time via a wireless connection to the car’s onboard computer and other electronic systems. These then display information to the driver via a graphic interface.
The sensor interprets the grip available, analysing road conditions that range from dry to wet to icy, together with the condition of the road surface (which obviously also affects the amount of traction on offer).
Cyber Tyre additionally senses the vertical load on the tyre as well as the lateral and longitudinal forces at work on it, calculating how much speed can be carried before aquaplaning occurs, as well as how much grip is available before the car starts to skid. Other data fields include information about the type of asphalt on the road, plus the footprint and angle of the tyre, as well as tyre temperature, pressure, wear and number of revolutions. The sensor also acts as each tyre’s ‘passport’, carrying unique information about its identity.
Cyber Tyre, which is currently being studied for inclusion as original equipment by the world’s major car manufacturers, is already a reality thanks to the CyberFleet system for commercial vehicles that is already use by some of the leading fleets in Europe and South America. CyberFleet automatically monitors tyre pressures and temperatures, helping to optimise fleet costs by reducing fuel spend, while making tyre maintenance and pressure checks more efficient.
CyberFleet is available in both static and dynamic mode. In static mode, a portable data reader captures the data from each sensor when the vehicle is at rest. This information can be subsequently transferred to a computer for further analysis and archiving.
In dynamic mode, full integration with a telematics system allows real time data capture from the sensors, transmitting information to a centralised database. Any anomalies in tyre temperature or pressure are signalled immediately to both the driver and the fleet manager. Track & Trace functionality is also available, which tracks all information on each individual vehicle’s tyres – including vital parameters such as distance travelled and speed.
