Melexis Announces World-First Combined Sensor For Smart Tires
Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, has unveiled the MLX91805 smart tire
sensor to help OEMs prepare for the forthcoming extension of mandatory
tire-pressure monitoring to include commercial vehicles, and to enable future
generations of smart tires.
Specially designed to be
embedded in the tire, unlike current rim-mounted TPMS sensors, the MLX91805 TMS
integrates an 800g XZ-axis accelerometer that senses up to 10,000 samples per
second. It also integrates a high-accuracy pressure sensor as well as
temperature and voltage sensors.
The MLX91805 is suited to
tires for commercial vehicles, including heavy duty, and passenger cars. With
new EU regulations on tire-pressure monitoring for heavy duty commercial
vehicles intended to come into force in 2022-2024, its multiple sensors help
ensure compliance and provide extra information, such as loading, that can
extend tire life and boost fuel economy and safety.
“The interface between
the tire and the road has a huge influence on vehicle behaviour. This is
exactly where our new sensor is designed to be, capturing information directly
from the road,” said Ivan Zagan, Product Manager Tire Monitoring Sensors at
Melexis. “This world-first device lets tire manufacturers create the next
generation of smart tires to deliver extra value for owners and operators,
enable new services to maximize fuel efficiency and safety, and contribute to
the development of self-driving vehicles.”
Integrating a low-power
16-bit microcontroller and 315/433 MHz RF transmitter that draws just 5mA at
5dBm output power, and with an extremely low 90nA sleep current, the MLX91805
can run from a tiny battery for the life of the tire. In addition to built-in
diagnostics and fault detection, a math coprocessor allows fast and
energy-efficient Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Further assisting the
development of smart tires, the MLX91805 comes with Melexis' Library to help
application-level software capturing and interpreting the key information like
accelerometer signals of the tire footprint area.
