Problem Statement
Tire blowouts cause 23,000 crashes per year, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Low tire pressure is attributed to 66 percent of all blowouts. The NHTSA further states that the operators of 1 out of 3 vehicles are driving with low tire pressure and are unaware of the problem.
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Product Abstract
In the aftermath of the
[
Ford-Firestone fiasco]
, the government established mandates for tire pressure monitoring. According to a study performed by Firestone on these, there were manufacturing defects. But the bigger problem is that there is no cushion of error for a Ford Explorer under a full load with Ford's recommended tire pressure before the tires became overloaded. Overloading and under-inflation both lead to overheating of the tires, which leads to tire failure. Consumers do not get feedback from their tires. Tire strength is based not only on the current conditions of the tire, but the conditions that the tire has been subjected to in its lifetime as well. We predict that the tires that failed had been overheating for some time and that historical data would have spotted this trend, regardless of the reason for the high temperature. The OmnAuto group is going to store and analyze data from the tires, giving consumers the ability to spot safety issues before they become statistics. Auto manufacturers and tire manufacturers alike will also benefit from this real world test data, using it to produce designs that compensate for real world driving conditions.
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Goals and Objectives
Objectives:
The overall objective is to develop the OmnAuto alarm detection and data collection system for tire pressure monitoring. The specific objectives are as follows:
- Integrate existing temperature and pressure sensors into the car's data collection system.
- Monitor the data real-time, processing the alarming algorithm and indicate a warning condition if required.
- Store data locally at pre-determined time intervals, in both alarm and normal conditions.
- Provide maintenance and OEM views of the data for further analysis.
Goals:
- Create the first direct tire pressure and temperature monitoring system with built in historical data recording and analysis.
- Meet and exceed all requirements laid out in the [TREAD Act] act.
- To provide the proof of concept for a feasibility prototype.
- To achieve SBIR funding for phase II.
- To have a viable product in the market by March 1st, 2005.
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Product Diagram and Description
[
Product Description]
(+ product diagram here)
Product Description:
The system consists of sensors mounted on the rim on each tire. These sensors measure internal temperature and pressure of the tire and transmit the data wirelessly to a RF receiver. This receiver is connected to the car's electronic data system (CAN bus). The control system reads in the pressure and temperature values from the car's electronic data system and computes the ideal tire pressure for the current operating temperature based upon the ideal gas law and tire manufacturer's recommended pressure. The system alerts the driver using a dual display system when actual pressure is less than 90% of the computed ideal pressure. The display panel in the vehicle shows a pictorial representation of a car indicating the under-inflated tire in bright yellow.The display screen on the dashboard also flashes the percentage by which the tire pressure is low.
The system archives tire performance data on the database and the removable memory. The system also provides software capable of interfacing the data from the removable memory and providing graphic analysis of archived tire performance data and generated alarms to diagnose potentially dangerous long-term trends of tire conditions. The database component allows the system to function
without the removable memory in place.
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Product Specifications
| Hardware |
Quantity |
Manufacturer |
| Temperature/Pressure Sensors - transmit RF signal |
4 |
SmarTire |
| RF receiver |
1 |
COTS supplier |
| OmnAuto TMS Controller |
1 |
OmnAuto LLC |
| Secure Digital (SD) card |
1 |
San Disk |
| Software |
|
|
| OmnAuto TMS Software |
1 |
OmnAuto LLC |
The OmnAuto TMS software requires a Java enabled computer. An SD card reader is required to upload data from the OmnAuto removable memory unit.
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About CPI
The Computer Productivity Initiative at Old Dominion University focuses on a two semester "capstone" course where CS students in their senior year of study research and propose a technical solution to a societal problem. The students form groups and each group picks one of the solution proposals to develop over the course of the year. Each group's solution and problem scope go through several iterations of refinement as the students perform feasibiltiy studies, develop multiple phase budgets, build prototypes, and begin to get a grasp of what it would take to bring the product in the marketplace. The first semester of instruction culminates in the completion of a Phase I SBIR application and a formal presentation in front a panel composed of industry and science representatives from the University, government organizations like NASA, business, and industry.
In the second semester, the students reorganize and take a fresh look at the problem solutions that have been developed so far. The products being developed may then undergo subtle refinements or may be redefined completely in order to better address the societal problem they were intended to solve. Technical documents like Budget White Papers, Contracts, are User Manuals produced. A laboratory prototype is developed and tested as proof of concept. A Phase II SBIR funding application is completed, and a final presentation is made in front of the panel of experts at the end of the semester.
[The CPI website at ODU]
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