Bridgestone Europe Nv/sa

Bridgestone Corporation

Zf Friedrichshafen Ag

Bridgestone Europe, N.v./s.a. [be/be

Lorenzo Alleva

Marco Pascucci

Alessandro Boldrini

Marco Andrea Maggi

Vincenzo Ciaravola

Valerio Bortolotto

Alfredo Corollaro

Vittorio Nicolosi

Roland Bösl

Jens Eisenbeiss

Markus Kramer

Rufini Flavia

Stefano Mauri

Alessandra Magliozzi

Manfredi Massimilla

Alberto Nantuono

Jessica Rosati

A system and a method for estimating the International Roughness Index (IRI) of a road or road segment includes determining the IRI as a function of physical quantities relating to the motion of a vehicle, for instance the vertical accelerations, and to the vehicle itself, for instance the damping and stiffness coefficients of the suspensions of the vehicle and the tires mounted on the vehicle.

Method and related system for estimating the International Roughness Index of a road segment

The invention concerns a method and a system for recognizing the presence of any irregularities of any road pavement.

Method and system for the recognition of the irregularities of a road pavement

The invention concerns a tire damage detection system (A) that includes an acquisition device (), a processing system (A) and a notification device (A). The acquisition device () is installed on board a motor vehicle () equipped with two or more wheels fitted with tires, is coupled to a vehicle bus () of the motor vehicle (), and is configured to acquire, from the vehicle bus (), signals indicative of speeds of the motor vehicle () and of a wheel of said motor vehicle () and output quantities indicative of the speeds of the motor vehicle () and of the wheel thereof. The processing system (A) is configured to store a predefined tire damage model and to receive, from the acquisition device (), the quantities indicative of the speeds of the motor vehicle () and of the wheel of said motor vehicle (), and is programmed to compute, based on the quantities indicative of the speeds of the motor vehicle () and of the wheel of said motor vehicle (), a normalized wheel speed indicative of a ratio of the wheel speed to the motor vehicle speed, and detect a potential damage to a tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle () based on the predefined tire damage model and on the normalized wheel speed. The notification device (A) is configured to, if a potential damage to the tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle () is detected by the processing system (A), signal the detected potential damage to a user () associated with the motor vehicle (). In particular, according to the present invention, the processing system () is a cloud computing system (A) that is wirelessly and remotely connected to the acquisition device (), while the notification device () is an electronic communication device (A) associated with the user () and remotely connected to the cloud computing system (A) via one or more wired and/or wireless networks.

Tire damage detection system and method

A tire damage detection method includes a preliminary stage comprising: performing tests involving test tire impacts against/on different obstacles at different motor vehicle speeds; measuring/acquiring test-related wheel speeds during the performed tests; computing test-related normalized wheel speeds based on the test-related wheel speeds; and determining a predefined tire damage model based on the test-related normalized wheel speeds corresponding to the test tire impacts and of associated test-related average wheel speeds. A tire damage detection stage comprises: acquiring signals indicative of a motor vehicle wheel speed; computing, based on quantities indicative of the wheel speed, a normalized wheel speed indicative of a ratio of the wheel speed to an average wheel speed indicative of motor vehicle speed; and detecting potential damage to a tire of the wheel based on the predefined tire damage model and on the normalized wheel speed.

A tire damage detection method includes a tire damage detection stage comprising: outputting quantities indicative of speeds of a vehicle and a corresponding wheel from an acquisition device to a processing device; computing, based on the received quantities, a normalized wheel speed indicative of a ratio of the wheel speed to the vehicle speed; and detecting a potential damage to a tire based on a predefined tire damage model and on the normalized wheel speed. A preliminary stage comprises: performing tests involving test tire impacts against/on different obstacles at different vehicle speeds; measuring/acquiring test-related wheel and vehicle speeds during the performed tests; computing test-related normalized wheel speeds based on the test-related wheel and vehicle speeds; and determining the predefined tire damage model to be used in the tire damage detection stage based on the test-related normalized wheel speeds and the test-related vehicle speeds that correspond to the test tire impacts.

The present application refers to an apparatus for the analysis of real data relating to the interface region between a pneumatic tire and the road surface under wet conditions. In particular, such an apparatus makes it possible to detect the ground contact region and the water expulsion profile of a pneumatic tire, particularly on wet surfaces, under differing dynamic driving conditions (rolling, braking, and steering of the pneumatic tire).

Apparatus for the analysis of the behavior of a pneumatic tire at the interface with the ground

The invention concerns a system and a method for detecting potential damages to tires of motor vehicles due to impacts against/on obstacles.

The invention concerns a tire damage detection system (A) that includes an acquisition device (), a processing system (A) and a notification device (A). The acquisition device () is installed on board a motor vehicle () equipped with two or more wheels fitted with tires, is coupled to a vehicle bus () of the motor vehicle (), and is configured to acquire, from the vehicle bus (), a signal indicative of a speed of a wheel of the motor vehicle () and output quantities indicative of the wheel speed. The processing system (A) is configured to store a predefined tire damage model and to receive, from the acquisition device (), the quantities indicative of the wheel speed, and is programmed to compute, based on the quantities indicative of the wheel speed, a normalized wheel speed indicative of a ratio of the wheel speed to an average wheel speed indicative of motor vehicle speed, and detect a potential damage to a tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle () based on the predefined tire damage model and on the normalized wheel speed. The notification device (A) is configured to, if a potential damage to the tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle () is detected by the processing system (A), signal the detected potential damage to a user () associated with the motor vehicle (). In particular, according to the present invention, the processing system () is a cloud computing system (A) that is wirelessly and remotely connected to the acquisition device (), while the notification device () is an electronic communication device (A) associated with the user () and remotely connected to the cloud computing system (A) via one or more wired and/or wireless networks.

The invention concerns a tread wear monitoring method comprising a tread wear model calibration step () and a tread wear monitoring step (), wherein the tread wear model calibration step () includes determining () a calibrated tread wear model based on tread-wear-related quantities and first frictional-energy-related quantities. The tread wear monitoring step () includes: acquiring (), from a vehicle bus () of a motor vehicle () equipped with two or more wheels fitted, each, with a tire, driving-related quantities related to driving of the motor vehicle (); computing () second frictional-energy-related quantities related to frictional energy experienced, during driving, by a given tire of the motor vehicle () by providing a predefined vehicle dynamics model that mathematically relates the acquired driving-related quantities to the second frictional-energy-related quantities, and computing the second frictional-energy-related quantities by inputting the acquired driving-related quantities into the predefined vehicle dynamics model; and performing a tread wear estimation () and a remaining tread material prediction () based on the second frictional-energy-related quantities computed and the calibrated tread wear model. The tread wear model calibration step () further includes: performing () tread wear tests on one or more tires; and measuring () tread-wear-related quantities indicative of tread depth reductions resulting from the performed tread wear tests, and first frictional-energy-related quantities related to frictional energy which the tested tire(s) is/are subject to during the performed tread wear tests. Determining () a calibrated tread wear model includes: providing a predefined reference tread wear model that mathematically relates frictional energy experienced by a tire along a driving route to tread wear caused by said frictional energy through given parameters; computing calibration values of the given parameters by inputting the measured tread-wear-related and first frictional-energy-related quantities into the predefined reference tread wear model; and determining the calibrated tread wear model by applying the computed calibration values in the predefined reference tread wear model.

Tread wear monitoring system and method

The invention concerns a tread wear monitoring method comprising a preliminary step () and a tread wear monitoring step (). The preliminary step () includes: performing tread wear tests on one or more tires; measuring tread-wear-related quantities and first frictional-energy-related quantities, wherein the tread wear-related quantities are indicative of tread wear resulting from the performed tread wear tests, and the first frictional-energy-related quantities are related to frictional energy which the tested tire(s) is/are subject to during the performed tread wear tests; and determining a calibrated tread wear model based on the measured tread-wear-related and first frictional-energy-related quantities. The tread wear monitoring step () includes: acquiring, from a vehicle bus () of a motor vehicle () equipped with two or more wheels fitted, each, with a tire, driving-related quantities related to driving of the motor vehicle (); computing, based on the acquired driving-related quantities and a predefined vehicle dynamics model related to the motor vehicle (), second frictional-energy-related quantities related to frictional energy experienced, during driving, by at least one tire of the motor vehicle (); estimating, based on the second frictional-energy-related quantities and the calibrated tread wear model, tread wear experienced by said at least one tire of the motor vehicle () during driving; and estimating a current average remaining tread material amount of said at least one tire of the motor vehicle () based on the estimated tread wear. Additionally, the preliminary step () further includes: determining, based on one or more of the measured tread-wear-related quantities, a first correction factor related to irregular tread wear due to tire features; and training an artificial neural network to provide second correction factors related to irregular tread wear due to tire usage. Finally, the tread wear monitoring step () further includes: providing a second correction factor by means of the trained artificial neural network based on one or more of the acquired driving-related quantities; and computing a corrected remaining tread material amount based on the current average remaining tread material amount, the first correction factor and the second correction factor provided by the trained artificial neural network based on the one or more acquired driving-related quantities.

Testing the rolling resistance of a tire is a common procedure in tire testing. There is a tire testing machinesuggested, comprising a rolling device, a tire mounting deviceand a driving assembly, whereby the driving assemblyis operable to rotate the rolling deviceand/or the tire mounting deviceaccording to a configurable driving cycle, whereby the rolling devicehas a drumwith an outer peripheral surface, whereby the tireis rotatable mountable on the tire mounting device, whereby the tire mounting deviceis arranged that the tireis engaged with the outer peripheral surfaceof the drum, with a first torque measuring assembly, a second torque measuring assembly, and an angular velocity measuring assembly, whereby the first torque measuring assemblyis operable to measure a drum drive torque of the drumand the second torque measuring assemblyis operable to measure a tire drive torque of the tire (), whereby the angular velocity measuring assemblyis operable to measure and/or calculate the angular velocity of the tire &#x3c9;and the angular velocity of the drum &#x3c9;.

Tire testing machine, method for testing a tire and computer program

The invention concerns a motor vehicle battery wear monitoring system (A,B) that includes an acquisition device () and a processing device/system (A,B). The acquisition device () is: installed onboard a motor vehicle () that is equipped with an internal combustion engine, a battery for providing a battery voltage (V), an alternator, and a starter motor for starting up the internal combustion engine; and configured to receive the battery voltage (V) and to output quantities indicative of said battery voltage (V). The processing device/system (A,B) is: configured to receive the quantities indicative of the battery voltage (V) from the acquisition device (); and programmed to perform a battery voltage monitoring based on the quantities indicative of the battery voltage (V) to detect an approaching battery failure. The battery voltage monitoring includes detecting for each start-up of the internal combustion engine: a respective first voltage value (V) that is a minimum value assumed by the battery voltage (VB) just after the starter motor has started operating to start up the internal combustion engine; and a respective second voltage value (V) assumed by the battery voltage (V) just after the internal combustion engine has been started up, the starter motor has stopped operating and the alternator has started operating. The battery voltage monitoring further includes for each start-up of the internal combustion engine: computing a respective voltage rise value (&#x394;V) indicative of a difference between the respective first (V) and second (V) voltage values; and detecting an approaching battery failure if the respective voltage rise value (&#x394;V) meets a predefined condition with respect to a predefined voltage rise threshold (T).

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Rome, Italy

Lorenzo Alleva