AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM DR. JOSEPH R.

ASIK

GURINDER SINGH WAZIR #000701255 VIKRANT VARANDANI #000704267

INTRODUCTION

If everybody maintains accurate tire pressures in their cars all around America, the oil consumption will come down by 2-3% President Obama. The tire might be the least important part of a vehicle in the eyes of the customer, but to engineers, it is a vital component which plays a big role in overall handling, suspension settings, ride and above all traction. Tire manufacturing is an art only mastered by a few. But even the best engineered tire with the wrong air pressure can lead to disaster. Air pressure difference or wrong air pressure has caused quite a few accidents in the past and to keep the passengers safe from this deviation, a tire pressure monitoring system was designed. With this system in place, one can monitor the tire pressures in all four different tires of a car separately and gets a warning sign. This invention has already been included in the cars by some of the leading car manufacturers and is being worked upon by others to perfection.

EVOLUTION
The first car to get a tire pressure monitoring system was a Porsche 959 in 1986 in Europe using a hollow spoke wheel and this technology has evolved immensely since then. In the United States, the Firestone recall in the late 1990s (which was linked to more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread-separation), pushed the Clinton administration to legislate the TREAD Act. The Act mandated the use of a suitable TPMS technology in all light motor vehicles (under 10,000 pounds), to help alert drivers of severe under-inflation events. This act affects all light motor vehicles sold after September 1, 2007. Phase-in started in October 2005 at 20%, and reached 100% for models produced after September 2007. In the United States, as of 2008 and the European Union, as of November 1, 2012, all new passenger car models (M1) released must be equipped with a TPMS. From November 1, 2014, all new passenger cars sold in the European Union must be equipped with TPMS. For N1 vehicles, TPMS are not mandatory, but if a TPMS is fitted, it must comply with the regulation. In recent years, several advancements have been made in the TPMS market. New developments aim at battery-less systems, such as those developed by VisiTyre TPMS and advanced iTPMS. TPI by NIRA was the first iTPMS to comply with the United States regulation FMVSS 138, as it was released with the Audi A6 for the 2009 model year. Since then, it has been introduced in various VW and Audi models and is in use in the United States in more than 250,000 vehicles. NIRA had their system TPI successfully tested by certification organization TV Sd Automotive for compliance with the future European legislation ECE-R64.

TYPES OF SYSTEMS Direct Systems attach a pressure sensor/transmitter to the vehicles wheels. An in-vehicle receiver warns the driver if the
pressure in any tire falls below a predetermined level. Direct systems are typically more accurate and reliable and most are able to indicate which tire is underinflated.

Indirect Systems use the vehicles antilock braking systems wheel speed sensors to compare the rotational speed of one
tire versus the others. If a tire is low on pressure, it will roll at a different number of revolutions per mile than the other three and alert the vehicles onboard computer. Indirect systems (except for the TPMS on several 2009+ Audi models and 2010+ Volkswagen models) are unable to generate accurate readings in cases where all four tires are losing pressure at the same rate, such as the effects of time and temperature.

ADVANTAGES

Fuel Saving Extended Tire life Decreased Downtime and Maintenance Improved Safety Environmental Efficiency

CONCLUSION
Automated Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems or TPMS provide a means of reliable and continuous monitoring of the vehicle tire pressure and are designed to increase safety, decrease fuel consumption and improve vehicle performance.