The VibroSense TMS engineering chip, the integrated circuit for tire-road friction detection, is being delivered for assembly of AI-enabled tire pressure management system (TPMS) sensor nodes. Potential customers – tire manufacturers, vehicle OEMs, chassis system suppliers, advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), and autonomous driving control providers – can begin evaluating the enhanced TPMS nodes immediately.
When a tire-mounted sensor node with the VibroSense chip is installed in a tire, it analyzes raw accelerometer data and accurately estimates the peak friction coefficient (PFC) of the ever-changing road surfaces under each wheel. The resulting values are wirelessly delivered to a vehicle’s ECU as a standard sensor signal. Then, braking, electronic stability control, all-wheel drive functions, autonomous driving, and other systems can leverage this information. No mechanical changes to the vehicle are required to obtain vital road-grip information.
“A road may look fine, but it isn't,” said Aleksandr Timofeev, founder and CEO of POLYN. “Today's braking, stability, and driver-assistance systems discover this the same way the driver does, when the wheel is already slipping. Tire-road friction is the last major input in vehicle dynamics that no sensor measures directly. VibroSense TMS changes that.”
Timofeev added that AI processing of accelerometer data inside a rotating tire was long considered impractical for a mass-market device. However, “we built the most advanced NASP chip to date to do exactly that. For the first time, the car will know what the tire knows."
In a recent third-party test, a vehicle equipped with VibroSense TMS in its tires reduced its stopping distance by 12 percent. Braking from 40 kilometers per hour (25 mph) on wet basalt pavement, the vehicle came to a full stop in 55.5 meters (182 feet). Without VibroSense TMS, the stopping distance was 63.2 meters (207 feet). VibroSense TMS reduced the stopping distance by more than one full car length, a critical distance in an emergency braking situation.
VibroSense TMS technology can be used by any tire brand, requiring only simple calibration for each new tire protector type to assess its unique vibration signature.
“For tire manufacturers, ADAS companies, and automotive OEMs, VibroSense TMS has the potential to be an always-on source of information about real-time road-tire interaction at any given moment. This opens new opportunities for these companies to improve their safety functions, removing uncertainty in some situations and enabling faster decisions by smart vehicle systems,” Timofeev said.
About POLYN
POLYN Technology Ltd. is a fabless semiconductor company that develops Neuromorphic Analog Signal Processing (NASP™) technology and products, bringing AI to the sensor edge with unprecedented energy efficiency and ultra-low latency. POLYN has offices in the UK, Israel, the US, Europe, and Asia.
For more information please visit www.polyn.ai.
