Method for detecting wheel rotation using a one-dimensional acceleration sensor
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of wheel modules, each wheel module associated with a wheel of a vehicle and comprising an acceleration sensor configured to sense acceleration related to the wheel, wherein each acceleration sensor has a uniform acceleration sensor placement relative to the wheel, and each acceleration sensor has an acceleration sensor profile defining at least an axis of orientation of the acceleration sensor relative to the wheel such that wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle have opposite axes of orientation; and
a central receiver unit configured to receive signals from the plurality of wheel modules, the signals comprising acceleration data sensed by the acceleration sensor, and to partially localize each wheel of the vehicle by evaluating the received signals relative to the acceleration sensor profile and identifying at least one zero-acceleration point between the received signals, wherein the at least one zero-acceleration point can be used to determine whether an offset error from the uniform acceleration sensor placement relative to the wheel of at least one of the plurality of wheel modules has occurred, wherein the identifying the zero-acceleration point comprises;
determining an offset between the received signals as modulated by gravity; and
determining a difference in the offset between the received signals from the at least one zero acceleration point in order to determine a magnitude of acceleration.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments relate to TPMS utilizing a single-axis acceleration sensor for measuring the direction of rotation of the tires in a tire localization methodology. In an embodiment, the known axis position of the acceleration sensor in the tires allows for the assessment by an integrated circuit in order to determine the left or right positioning of a tire, as well as the magnitude of acceleration or deceleration. Because of the dual components of the measured acceleration signal of first, the directional acceleration of the vehicle and second, the oscillating modulation due to gravity, the generated waveform is known to have differences between the left and right tire signals of an accelerating and decelerating vehicle. The impact of the oscillating modulation on the directional acceleration of the vehicle can be utilized to identify tire rotation direction, and thus the wheels localized therefrom, as well as the magnitude of acceleration and deceleration.
28 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of wheel modules, each wheel module associated with a wheel of a vehicle and comprising an acceleration sensor configured to sense acceleration related to the wheel, wherein each acceleration sensor has a uniform acceleration sensor placement relative to the wheel, and each acceleration sensor has an acceleration sensor profile defining at least an axis of orientation of the acceleration sensor relative to the wheel such that wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle have opposite axes of orientation; and a central receiver unit configured to receive signals from the plurality of wheel modules, the signals comprising acceleration data sensed by the acceleration sensor, and to partially localize each wheel of the vehicle by evaluating the received signals relative to the acceleration sensor profile and identifying at least one zero-acceleration point between the received signals, wherein the at least one zero-acceleration point can be used to determine whether an offset error from the uniform acceleration sensor placement relative to the wheel of at least one of the plurality of wheel modules has occurred, wherein the identifying the zero-acceleration point comprises; determining an offset between the received signals as modulated by gravity; and determining a difference in the offset between the received signals from the at least one zero acceleration point in order to determine a magnitude of acceleration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A wheel module, the wheel module associated with a wheel of a vehicle, comprising:
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an acceleration sensor configured to sense acceleration related to the wheel, the sensed acceleration being oscillated by gravity when the wheel is in motion, and the acceleration sensor having an acceleration sensor profile defining at least an axis of orientation of the acceleration sensor relative to the wheel; a communications unit configured to receive acceleration data from a second wheel module;
a microcontroller configured to accumulate data from the acceleration sensor and partially localize the wheel module relative to the second wheel module based on the acceleration sensor profile and the accumulated sensor data, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to determine a zero-acceleration point between the accumulated acceleration sensor data and the second wheel module acceleration data and determine an offset error between the accumulated acceleration sensor data and the second wheel module acceleration data, wherein the determining the zero-acceleration point comprises;determining an offset between the accumulated acceleration sensor data and the second wheel module acceleration data as modulated by gravity; and determining a difference in the offset between the accumulated acceleration sensor data and the second wheel module acceleration data from the determined zero acceleration point in order to determine a magnitude of acceleration; and a power source configured to provide power to at least the acceleration sensor, microcontroller, and communications unit. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A wheel module, the wheel module associated with a wheel of a vehicle, comprising:
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an acceleration sensor configured to sense acceleration related to the wheel, the sensed acceleration being oscillated by gravity when the wheel is in motion, and the acceleration sensor having a fixed-orientation mounting position relative to the wheel; a microcontroller configured to accumulate data from the acceleration sensor; a communications unit configured to transmit data from the microcontroller to a central receiver unit to identify at least one zero-acceleration point between the accumulated sensor data and acceleration data from a second wheel module and partially localize the wheel module relative to the vehicle based on the acceleration mounting position and the data accumulated from the acceleration sensor, wherein the at least one zero-acceleration point is used to determine a presence of an offset error between the accumulated sensor data and acceleration data from the second wheel module, wherein the identifying the at least one zero-acceleration point comprises; determining an offset between the accumulated sensor data and acceleration data from the second wheel module as modulated by gravity; and determining a difference between the offset of the accumulated sensor data and acceleration data from the second wheel module from the at least one zero acceleration point in order to determine a magnitude of acceleration; and a power source configured to provide power to at least the acceleration sensor, microcontroller, and communications unit. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification