METHOD OF IDENTIFYING POSITIONS OF WHEEL MODULES

• US 20100256874A1
• Filed: 11/30/2007
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volvo Lastvagnar AB (AB Volvo)
• Original Assignee: Volvo Lastvagnar AB (AB Volvo)
• Inventors: Hasselberg, Per, Carresjö, Erik
• Granted Patent: US 8,744,692 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/48
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0471 System initialisation, e.g. upload or calibration of operating parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0486 comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0488 Movement sensor, e.g. for sensing angular speed, acceleration or centripetal force
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/013 Wheels

Abstract

A method for identifying locations of one or more modules of an apparatus implemented in a vehicle for monitoring operation of at least one wheel of the vehicle includes steps of (a) communicating with one or more modules of the apparatus for receiving their identification codes at a processing arrangement of the apparatus, the one or more modules being mounted on at least one wheel of the vehicle; (b) driving the vehicle around a curved trajectory as sensed by the steering sensing arrangement and recording a direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of the physical parameter measured by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes, the physical parameter pertaining to one or more tires of the at least one wheel; and (c) applying an analysis to the steering direction and the temporal record in respect of time to identify where the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle, the analysis utilizing a characteristic that tires on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience a different peak values in the temporal record of the physical parameter than tires on an inside of the curved trajectory, and tires towards a front region of the vehicle experience a change in the temporal record of the physical parameter before and/or at a higher rate than tires towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle.

Claims

1. A method of identifying locations of one or more modules of an apparatus implemented in a vehicle for monitoring operation of at least one wheel of the vehicle the apparatus including one or more sensor modules operatively mounted to revolve with the at least one wheel the one or more modules being operatively coupled in communication with a processing arrangement of the vehicle, the one or more modules being operable to determine at least one physical parameter of the wheel and to generate at least one corresponding sensor signal for the processing arrangement the processing arrangement being operable to process the at least one sensor signal to compute information indicative of operation of the at least one wheel, characterized in that the method includes steps of

(a) communicating with one or more modules of the apparatus for receiving their identification codes at a processing arrangement of the apparatus the one or more modules being mounted on at least one wheel of the vehicle);

(b) driving the vehicle around a curved trajectory as sensed by a steering sensing arrangement and recording a direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of the physical parameter determined by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes the physical parameter pertaining to one or more tires of the at least one wheel and

(c) applying an analysis to the steering direction and the temporal record in respect of time to identify where the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle, the analysis utilizing a characteristic that tires on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience different values in the temporal record of the physical parameter than tires on an inside of the curved trajectory, and that tires towards a front region of the vehicle experience a change in the temporal record Of the physical parameter before and/or at a higher rate than tires towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the physical parameter is of lateral accelerations measured by the one or more modules wherein the method steps (b) and (c) are as follows:

(b) driving the vehicle around a curved trajectory as sensed by the steering sensing arrangement and recording direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of lateral accelerations measured by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes; and

(c) applying an analysis to the direction of steering and the temporal record in respect of time to identify locations whereat the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle, the analysis utilizing a characteristic that accelerometers located on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience greater lateral accelerations during the curved trajectory in comparison to a straight trajectory than accelerometers located on an inside of the curved trajectory, and that accelerometers located towards a front region of the vehicle experience an increase in lateral acceleration temporally before accelerometers located towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle during execution of the curved trajectory.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the physical parameter is a pressure measured inside each wheel, wherein the method steps (b) and (e) are as follows:

(b) driving the vehicle around a curved trajectory as sensed by the steering sensing arrangement and recording direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of pressures measured by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes, the pressure pertaining to one or more tires of the at least one wheel; and

(c) applying an analysis to the direction of steering and the temporal record in respect of time to identify locations whereat the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle, the analysis utilizing a characteristic that tires on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience greater pressure increases than tires on an inside of the curved trajectory, and that tires towards a front region of the vehicle experience an increase in pressure before tires towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the physical parameter is an angular velocity derived from a signal generated by the one or more modules wherein the method steps (b) and (c) are as follows:

(b) driving the vehicle around a curved trajectory as sensed by the steering sensing arrangement and recording direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of the angular velocity determined from a signal generated by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes; and

(c) applying an analysis to the direction of steering and the temporal record in respect of time to identify locations whereat the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle the analysis utilizing a characteristic that the angular velocity of a wheel located on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience greater magnitude during the curved trajectory in comparison to a the magnitude of the angular velocity of a wheel located on an inside of the curved trajectory, and that the angular velocity of a wheel located towards a front region of the vehicle experience an increase in magnitude temporally before and/or at a higher rate than a wheel located towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle during execution of the curved trajectory.

5. A method as in claim 4, wherein the signal generated by the module are acceleration signal components in the tangential and/or radial direction derived from the one or more modules.

6. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules include a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature (T mod) thereat, the one or more modules being operable to communicate a signal indicative of the temperature (T mod) to the processing arrangement for use in computing the information indicative of operation of the at least one wheel.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules include at least one of:

(a) a pressure sensor operable to sense a pressure existing within a tire of the at least one wheel, the one Of more modules being operable to communicate a signal indicative of the pressure to the processing arrangement for use in computing the information indicative of operation of the at least one wheel;

(b) a strain gauge sensor for measuring flexure of the tire of the at least one wheel, the module being operable to communicate a signal indicative of the flexure to the processing arrangement for use in computing the information indicative of operation of the at least one wheel;

(c) an accelerometer for measuring acceleration (Ax, Ay, A) in at least one axis at a mounting location of the one or more modules on the at least one wheel, the one or more modules being operable to communicate a signal indicative of the acceleration to the processing arrangement for use in computing the information Indicative of operation of the at least one wheel; and

(d) a magnetic sensor for measuring a magnetic field applied to the one or more modules, the one or more modules being operable to communicate a signal indicative of the applied magnetic field to the processing arrangement for use in controlling operation of the apparatus.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the accelerometer is a multi-axis accelerometer operable to measure components of acceleration in at least one of radial, tangential and transverse axes in respect of rotations of the at least one wheel.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more modules are mounted at one or more locations on the at least one wheel, the one or more locations including:

(a) on a hub (20) of the at least one wheel substantially at an axis of rotation of the at least one wheel;

(b) on a hub (20) of the at least one wheel at a radial distance from the axis of rotation (B-8) of the at least one wheel;

(c) within a tire of the at least one wheel (10,) for sensing a pressure within the tire, the at least one module being mounted to a peripheral surface (90) of a hub (20) of the at least one wheel;

(d) within a tire of the wheel for sensing a pressure within the tire, the one or more modules being mounted to an inside side-wall surface (230) of the tire for measuring flexural characteristics of the side-wall (230); and

(e) on an inside surface of a peripheral rim of the at least one wheel for measuring acceleration thereat.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more modules include at least one wireless interface (730) for communicating between the one or more modules and the processing arrangement, the one or more modules forming a wireless network wherein certain of the one or more modules are operable to function as one or more relay nodes for conveying signal exchange between the processing arrangement and other of the one or more modules.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are each provided with a corresponding identification code for communicating to the processing arrangement so that the processing arrangement is able to recognize from which module corresponding signal data has been sent.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are radially distributed around the at least one wheel for sensing operation of the at least one wheel at a plurality of angular locations therearound.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 including a step of presenting information to a driver of the vehicle on a display (915) coupled in communication with the processing arrangement the information indicating at least one of:

(a) an operating status of the one or more modules;

(b) a condition of the at least one wheel;

(c) one or more faults or potential faults associated with the at least one wheel;

(d) information regarding one or more actions to be taken by a driver of the vehicle in an event of one or more faults or potential faults associated with the at least one wheel being identified; and

(e) an indication of whether or not at the at least one wheel of the vehicle has been modified.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1, including a step of providing the processing arrangement with a wireless interface for communicating with a service facility remote from the vehicle, the processing arrangement being operable to communicate information indicative of functionality of the at least one wheel, the information being indicative of one or more faults or potential faults associated with the at least one wheel as computed from signals provided from the one or more modules, and for receiving instructions from the service facility regarding actions for addressing the one or more faults or potential faults.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of:

(a) a pressure within a tire of the at least one wheel as measured at the one or more modules;

(b) an acceleration as measured substantially at the one or more modules;

wherein the processing arrangement is operable to apply an harmonic analysis to signals corresponding to the pressure and/or the acceleration the harmonic analysis being operable to identify harmonic components in respect of angular frequency corresponding to a temporal rate of change of the angular orientation of the at least one wheel.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the harmonic analysis applying computation to at least one of:

(a) magnitudes of the harmonic components; and

(b) relative phase relationships between the harmonic components.

17. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the processing arrangement is operable to perform the analysis of the harmonic components by applying:

(a) a rule-based algorithm for identifying one or more faults or potential faults from the harmonic components;

(b) a neural network pre-programmed to identify one or more faults or potential faults when presented with data describing the harmonic components; and

/or

(c) an harmonic filter for highlighting a specific combination of one or more harmonic components which are indicative of one or more faults or potential faults with the at least one wheel.

18. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing arrangement (ECU 9S0) is operable to send a message requesting the one or modules to respond back to the processing arrangement for declaring their identification codes to the processing arrangement for enabling the processing arrangement to identify its configuration of one or more modules, and for identifying any changes in the configuration of one or more modules occurring.

20. A wheel-monitoring apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that the wheel monitoring apparatus further being arranged to perform the method steps according to any of claims 2-18.

22. A system including one or more vehicles, wherein each vehicle includes a wheel-monitoring apparatus operable to execute a method as claimed in claim 18, the system comprising:

(a) a control centre for coordinating repair or maintenance of the one or more vehicles;

(b) one or more service facilities operable to perform repair or replacement on the one or more vehicles;

wherein the system is operable to;

(c) enable each wheel-monitoring apparatus to monitor operation of its one or more associated wheels and detect when a problem or potential problem arises therewith;

(d) enable each wheel-monitoring apparatus to communicate the problem or potential problem to the control centre, for the control centre to identify one or more service facilities capable of addressing the problem or potential problem; and

(e) enable the control centre to communicate instructions to the one or more vehicles whose wheel-monitoring apparatus has detected a problem or potential problem to the identified one or more service facilities for the problem or potential problem to be addressed.

23. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the system in (e) is operable to inform the identified one or more service facilities in advance of arrival of the one or more vehicles for maintenance or repair, so that the identified one or more service facilities are provided with an opportunity to make preparation for arrival of the one or more vehicle for maintenance or repair.

24. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the control centre is operable to organise the maintenance or repair at the identified one or more service facilities automatically without one or more drivers (910) of the one or more vehicles needing to intervene.

25. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the one or more vehicles include global position sensing apparatus thereon coupled in communication with the wheel-monitoring apparatus for enabling the one or more vehicles to communicate their position to the control centre, so that the control centre is operable to identify one or more service facilities most suitably geographically disposed to service the one or more vehicles.

26. A method of operating a system including one or more vehicles, wherein each vehicle includes a wheel-monitoring apparatus operable to implement a method as claimed in claim 1, the system comprising:

(a) a control centre for coordinating repair or maintenance of the one or more vehicles;

(b) one or more service facilities operable to perform repair or replacement on the one or more vehicles;

wherein the method includes steps of;

(c) enabling each wheel-monitoring apparatus to monitor operation of its one or more associated wheels and to detect when a problem or potential problem arises therewith;

(d) enabling each wheel-monitoring apparatus to communicate the problem or potential problem to the control centre, for the control centre to identify one or more service facilities capable of addressing the problem or potential problem; and

(e) enabling the control centre to communicate instructions to the one or more vehicles whose wheel-monitoring apparatus has detected a problem or potential problem to the identified one or more service facilities for the problem or potential problem to be addressed.

27. A software product recorded on a data carrier, the product being executable on computing hardware for executing a method as claimed in claim 1.

19. A wheel-monitoring apparatus implemented in a vehicle for monitoring operation of at least one wheel of the vehicle, the apparatus including one or more sensor modules operatively mounted to revolve with the at least one wheel, the one or more modules being operatively coupled in communication with a processing arrangement of the vehicle, the one or more modules being operable to determine at least one physical parameter of the wheel and to generate at least one corresponding sensor signal for the processing arrangement the processing arrangement being operable to process the at least one sensor signal to compute information indicative of operation of the at least one wheel, characterized in that the apparatus being arranged to

(a) enable communication between one or more modules of the apparatus for receiving their identification codes and a processing arrangement of the apparatus, the one or more modules being mounted on at least one wheel of the vehicle,

(b) sense, by a steering sensing arrangement, driving of the vehicle around a curved trajectory and recording a direction of steering of the vehicle together with a temporal record of the physical parameter determined by the one or more modules together with their corresponding identification codes, the physical parameter pertaining to one or more lyres of the at least one wheel;

and

(c) apply an analysis to the steering direction and the temporal record in respect of time to identify where the one or more modules are located on the at least one wheel of the vehicle, the analysis utilizing a characteristic that tires on an outside of the curved trajectory will experience different values in the temporal record of the physical parameter than tires on an inside of the curved trajectory, and that tires towards a front region of the vehicle experience a change in the temporal record of the physical parameter before and/or at a higher rate than tires towards a rear region of the vehicle for a forward direction of travel of vehicle.

21. A vehicle including a wheel-monitoring apparatus as claimed in claim 19.