Tyre monitoring device puts engineers on the road to glory
A NEW device developed in the West Midlands is set to revolutionise tyre technology.
Engineers Geoff Haswell and Malcolm Caley have spent the last seven years developing a new tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS).
The system relies on a device called a Piezotag. The tag is a battery-less piezoelectric device which harvests spare power from a tyre to provide data to a driver about tyre wear and fuel consumption.
Backed by strategic support from the Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM), the two inventors are in talks with a global tyre company and a host of telematics firms which could see the Piezotag enter full scale production.
Initial volumes will be small but the two men are hopeful this will increase once new EU legislation is introduced. The legislation is set to ensure that by 2014 every new car manufactured in the EU will have to have TPMS fitted.
Mr Haswell said: “Initially we wanted to license the technology as the route to market. However, after talking to industry and initial discussions on the viability of setting up the supply chain, we feel the most cost effective option in terms of price and speed of customer response was to look at doing small batch production ourselves.
“Using MAS support we are identifying firms who can help us and have already entered into an initial arrangement with Birmingham-based Barkley Plastics, who are using their unique in-mould welding to develop our prototypes for passenger vehicles and trucks.”
Unlike traditional battery powered TPMS, Piezotag is attached to the tyre and through its unique design geometry, uses power harvested from wheel rotations to collect and transmit tyre pressure and temperature data from the wheel to the driver.
The two men believe the device has the potential to be the world’s first Tyre Data Monitoring System (TDMS), providing real time data on the distance travelled and the footprint of the tyre.
The technology also offers a way to reduce the carbon footprint of a vehicle. By using TDMS and assuming a 2% reduction in fuel use, a 100-strong vehicle truck fleet could reduce emissions by around 470 tonnes of CO2 in a year.
The cost of wasting this fuel could be in excess of £250 per fleet.
The two men used facilities at Smithers Rapra in Shropshire to test the device at various speeds and conditions.
“With this independent backing and patents secured for Europe, China and the US, we are hoping to explore the growing global market demand for intelligent tyres by targeting mainstream and emerging producers, car and commercial vehicle manufacturers and telematics firms,” said Mr Haswell.
Martin McKeever, MAS-WM specialist adviser, said the Piezotag could revolutionise the way tyres work and are built.
“There is still work to do to demonstrate the huge benefits it will provide, but when one organisation takes the lead, the rest of the industry will follow,” he said.
“This is an invention born in the heart of the West Midlands and I’m delighted that we are helping them develop a supply chain that will see the product manufactured right here in the region.”
