2017 8th International Conference on Information Technology (ICIT)

Model Tire Pressure Sensor ID Learning Method

using Fuzzy Logic
Adnan Shaout and Victoria Yanez
MayoThe University of Michigan – Dearborn
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dearborn, Michigan
shaout@umich.edu

Abstract—A common maintenance process that is usually TPMS [1].

done in the automobile is change of a flat tire. In the case the
vehicle is equipped with a direct tire pressure monitor system
(TPMS), the sensor should be also replaced if it is damaged. The
module that receives the tire pressure data needs to update the
registered sensor IDs with the new sensor ID fitted in the vehicle.
This can be done manually through a diagnostic tool that
communicates with the module. Also, there are some systems that
have the capability of auto-learning sensor IDs without using any
external tool. To auto learn sensor Ids, classic algorithm
approaches has been defined based on experience. For this paper
the method of auto-learning sensor IDs using Fuzzy logic will be
modeled. A four tires configuration system would be modeled
with four rotating sensors.
Keywords – Fuzzy systems; Automotive; Sensors; Tire Pressure
Model
I- INTRODUCTION
One of the safety systems in automobiles is the tire pressure
monitor system (TPMS). The system consists of a set of
sensors and a lamp in the dashboard to indicate when one of
the tires presents a low pressure, or when any of the sensors
presents a malfunction.
In USA there is a law that provides enhanced safety
protections for tire consumers. The TREAD Act established a
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). This law
(FMVSS 138) states that all passenger cars should be
equipped with a Tire Pressure Monitor System [1]. All the
vehicles produced after September 2007 are equipped with
TPMS [2].
The Tire Pressure Monitoring System monitors the state of
tires. The system warns the driver when any of the tires
installed in the car presents a low pressure. This system is also
required to detect when the system is not functioning properly.
Each vehicle should have a TPMS telltale or display which
would indicate to the driver the state of tires and the state of
There are two types of TPMS: indirect TPMS and direct
TPMS. The indirect TPMS uses the ABS wheel speed
variations to figure out the tire pressures. The direct TPMS
consists of battery powered sensors installed in each of the
vehicle’s tires which directly measure the tire pressure [5].
Each of the sensors transmits a RF (Radio Frequency)
message to a Receiver module. The Receiver will evaluate the
data received to decide when to indicate a low pressure
warning or a system malfunction to the driver. Traditional
direct TPMS are only one way communication, the Receiver
cannot communicate back to sensors [3].
A- Problem Statement
A common maintenance process that is usually done in the
automobile is change of a flat tire. In the case the vehicle is
equipped with a direct TPMS, the sensor should be also
replaced if it is damaged. The module that receives the tire
pressure data needs to update the registered sensor IDs with
the new sensor ID fitted in the vehicle. This can be done
manually through a diagnostic tool that communicates with
the module. Also, there are some systems that have the
capability of auto-learning sensor IDs without using any
external tool.
To auto learn sensor IDs, classic algorithm approaches has
been defined based on experience. For this paper a model of
the method of auto-learning sensor IDs using Fuzzy logic will
be proposed. A for tires configuration system would be
modeled using four rotating sensors.
The auto-learning method deals with several uncertainties that
may be modeled using Fuzzy logic. The following are some
of the uncertainties that the system has to manage:

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2017 8th International Conference on Information Technology (ICIT)
- How certain is the system that is learning a fitted sensor The RSSI data was not used in the proposed system since the
ID? RSSI varies according the position of the Receiver in the
- How many rotating messages needed to receive to qualify vehicle. The position of the Receiver module is different in
a Sensor ID as fitted in the vehicle? every vehicle model and adding this data as input to the
- Does the vehicle speed match with status condition system would only make the system more complex.
(stationary or rotating) indicated by the sensor?
B- Fuzzifying Inputs
B- Background
The proposed fuzzy logic controller will be assigned two
The following researches are about identifying new sensor IDs fuzzy input variable which are the “Driving time” and the
or identifying the location of sensor IDs without the use of any “Reception State”.
external tool. The Driving time input variable (in minutes) is assigned three
linear membership functions (linguistic values) as shown in
Ford Global patented an algorithm to auto learn the tire sensor figure 1: Not enough, Sufficient, and Plenty. The linguistic
IDs in TPMS. This algorithm takes into account several values were derived based on the experience of the authors.
factors: vehicle speed, ignition status, time elapsed at speed,
number of sensor messages received, etc. The rational to
define the values of these parameters are not explained. The
logical assumption is that these values are set based on
experience. Ford also mentioned that these parameters can be
modified as desired [4].

Chul Kyun Bae et al presented an algorithm to automatically

identify the location of the sensor IDs (Front left, front right,
rear left or rear right). This algorithm does not learn IDs but
implemented an interesting approach. It uses acceleration and
RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) data [6]. These
data can also be used for learning Sensor IDs.

The organization of the paper is as follows: section II will

introduce the fuzzy system design. Section III will present a
comparison between fuzzy and non-fuzzy techniques. Section
IV will present the results and section V will conclude. Fig. 1. Drive Time Membership Functions

The membership functions for the Reception State input

II- FUZZY SYSTEM DESIGN
variable has the following linguistic values as shown in figure
2: Poor, Good, and Excellent. Good is set when all the rotating
In this section a new fuzzy inference system will be
messages that have to be received in the driving time were
introduced to determine the tire sensor status.
received. Sometimes a RF message may not be received due
A- Inputs and Outputs some environment noise.

The System would able to identify if a Sensor ID, which is

sending messages, is fitted in the vehicle.

There many inputs that can be selected for the fuzzy logic
controller. The following inputs are candidates:
• Driving time. Time which the vehicle has been
driven (speed over 5 km/h) since Ignition ON.
• Acceleration data (sensor is rotating or stationary).
• Number of rotating messages received (each sensor
transmits rotating messages every 60 sec).
• Vehicle Speed.

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2017 8th International Conference on Information Technology (ICIT)
• IF Driving Time is Plenty and Reception State is
Excellent THEN Sensor Status is Fitted.

Fig. 2. Reception State Membership Functions

Only one output variable is used for the fuzzy logic

controller, the Sensor State, which has two linguistic values as
Fig 4. Three System Rules
shown in figure 3: Not fitted and fitted.
III- COMPARISON BETWEEN FUZZY AND
NON-FUZZY TECHNIQUES

Table 1 shows a comparison between the non-fuzzy technique

and fuzzy techniques with respect to the defined auto learning
algorithm parameters and the system model.

TABLE I. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE NON-FUZZY TECHNIQUE

AND FUZZY TECHNIQUES

Fuzzy technique Non-Fuzzy

technique

Define Auto Provide tools to The parameter

learn define and are set base on
algorithm simulate uncertain engineers
Parameters parameters that experience.
Fig. 3. Sensor State Membership Functions best suit the
algorithm.

System Matlab already Model should

C- Design the Rule base Model provides tools be defined from
The following rules (which makes the algorithm for the (template) for scratch.
proposed fuzzy logic system) were defined as shown in figure modeling fuzzy
4: systems.

• IF Driving Time is Sufficient and Reception State is IV- RESULTS

Good THEN Sensor Status is Fitted.
• IF Driving Time is Plenty and Reception State is The sensor ID would be considered as fitted when the Fitted
Good THEN Sensor Status is Fitted. Sensor Status is over 0.7. The Matlab model shows the
following results.

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2017 8th International Conference on Information Technology (ICIT)
Case 1: Several messages received in short time. The message
may be from other vehicles. The fitted sensor can only send
rotating messages every minute. Figure 5 shown the inputs
and output that simulate this case.
Result. The sensor ID is not fitted in the vehicle.
Fig. 4. Case 1 Results
Case 2: Only one message is received in 10 min as shown in
figure 6.
Result. The sensor ID is not fitted in the vehicle.
Fig. 5. Case 2 Results
Case 3: Five messages are received in 6 minutes as shown in
figure 7.
Result. The sensor ID is fitted in the vehicle.
Fig. 6. Case 3 Results
CONCLUSION
The results show that the proposed fuzzy system could be
used to learn new sensor IDs. The Fuzzy system provides a
better way to define and simulate the parameters of the
algorithm which are usually defined by engineers with
experience on designing that kind of system.
REFERENCES
[1]
http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/tires_maintenance.html as
of March 29, 2017.
[2] http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tire-pressure-monitoring-
system-purpose-and-limitations
[3] J. Zhang, Q. Liu and Y. Zhong, "A Tire pressure
monitoring system based on wireless sensor networks
technology," MultiMedia and Information Technology, 2008.
MMIT '08. International Conference on, Three Gorges, 2008,
pp. 602-605.
[4] Ford Global Technologies, Tire pressure monitoring
system auto learn algorithm” US8115613 B2, Feb 14, 2012.
[5] Z. Jiang, H. Liu and Q. Dai, "A new intelligent tire
pressure monitoring system," Information Technology,
Computer Engineering and Management Sciences (ICM),
2011 International Conference on, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 2011, pp.
332-335.
[6] Chul Kyun Bae, Seung Gi Kim, Sol Lim and Dae Jin Kim,
"TPMS tire position registration algorithm using acceleration
and RSSI data," 2016 Eighth International Conference on
Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN), Vienna, Austria,
2016, pp. 745-747.
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