REAL-TIME WIRELESS DYNAMIC TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR AND ENERGY HARVESTING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A system for characterizing a roadway, the system disposed in a vehicle for enabling mobile roadway characterization over a range of driving speeds, comprising:
- a dynamic tire pressure sensor coupled to a valve stem of a first tire of the vehicle for dynamically measuring tire pressure changes caused by the interaction of the respective tire and the roadway while the vehicle is moving on the roadway;
signal processing circuitry, centrally disposed on a first wheel of the vehicle, the first tire being mounted on the first wheel and the signal processing circuitry being in electrical communication with the pressure sensor for receiving dynamic tire pressure data therefrom; and
a signal recovery and processing computer having an associated database, the computer disposed with the vehicle for receiving the processed tire pressure data from the signal processing circuitry, for analyzing the received data to characterize the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling, and for storing the analyzed data in the database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An instantaneous/real-time wireless dynamic tire pressure sensor (DTPS) for characterizing pavement qualities and for detecting surface and subsurface pavement defects under normal driving conditions. Signal processing provides quantitative assessment of surface conditions. DTPS includes a vehicle tire valve stem-mounted pressure sensor and wheel hub-mounted signal conditioning, amplification, and transmitting circuitry. A signal processing computer within the vehicle is wirelessly coupled to the hub-mounted circuitry. Tire pressure changes caused by ground vibration excitation from the interaction between the tire and pavement at normal driving speeds are detected. When acoustic radiation from a surface wave is significantly stronger than acoustic noise, subsurface information can be extracted. An energy harvester based on strong magnetostatic coupling between a high permeability core solenoid, fixed proximate a vehicle wheel, and a bias magnet array, fixedly mounted in conjunction with a dust shield, can provide power the DIPS.
70 Citations
49 Claims
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1. A system for characterizing a roadway, the system disposed in a vehicle for enabling mobile roadway characterization over a range of driving speeds, comprising:
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a dynamic tire pressure sensor coupled to a valve stem of a first tire of the vehicle for dynamically measuring tire pressure changes caused by the interaction of the respective tire and the roadway while the vehicle is moving on the roadway; signal processing circuitry, centrally disposed on a first wheel of the vehicle, the first tire being mounted on the first wheel and the signal processing circuitry being in electrical communication with the pressure sensor for receiving dynamic tire pressure data therefrom; and a signal recovery and processing computer having an associated database, the computer disposed with the vehicle for receiving the processed tire pressure data from the signal processing circuitry, for analyzing the received data to characterize the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling, and for storing the analyzed data in the database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An energy harvester for vehicular applications, comprising:
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an arcuate array of magnets, disposed within a fixture mounted on the vehicle adjacent a first wheel thereof; at least one solenoid disposed in conjunction with the first wheel for rotation therewith and proximate the array of magnets; and a rectifier for receiving power from the at least one solenoid and for providing a direct current power output. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for isolating and amplifying roadway surface vibration in the presence of external noise, comprising:
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dynamically detecting the internal pressure of a first vehicle tire while the vehicle is traveling on a portion of a roadway using a dynamic tire pressure sensor disposed in conjunction therewith; sampling the tire pressure data; transmitting the sampled tire pressure data to a processing device disposed within the vehicle; generating pressure profile data by the processing device; performing a frequency analysis of the pressure profile data, by the processing device, for identifying roadway surface vibrations. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of determining a road height profile, comprising:
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dynamically detecting the internal pressure of a first vehicle tire using a dynamic tire pressure sensor disposed in conjunction therewith while the vehicle is traveling on a portion of a roadway; sampling the tire pressure data using an on-wheel sampling and signal conditioning circuit; providing the sampled tire pressure data to a processing device disposed within the vehicle; generating pressure profile data by an on-vehicle processing device from the sampled tire pressure data; measuring the acceleration of an axle due to the vehicle traveling on the portion of the roadway using an axle-mounted accelerometer disposed proximate the first vehicle tire; applying, by the processing device, a predetermined transfer function to derive axle pressure from measured axle acceleration; removing the effect of vehicle-induced accelerations by subtracting the axle pressure from the sampled tire pressure and forming a resulting pressure profile therefrom; and performing a frequency analysis of the pressure profile, by the processing device, to generate an estimate of road height profile. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of energy harvesting on a vehicle, comprising:
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disposing an arcuate array of magnets, disposed within a fixture, on the vehicle adjacent a first wheel thereof; disposing at least one solenoid in conjunction with the first wheel for rotation therewith and proximate the array of magnets; and a rectifier for receiving power from the at least one solenoid and for providing a direct current power output. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification