Tire Self-Inflation system

Abstract:
Low tire pressure affects your car's handling. When a tire is flat, its sidewalls flex
more than expected when cornering and braking. The tread, the point of contact
with the road, twists. The tire is less stable and has less traction. Response to
steering inputs becomes slower and smoother and braking distances are longer.
Low tire pressure can be especially damaging in an emergency when you're trying
to avoid an accident and need every ounce of responsiveness, cornering or
traction braking from your car. Low tire pressure robs your tires of the grip and
responsiveness they need to help you avoid accidents. The deflation of the
pneumatic tires impinges the vehicle’s handling, stability, safety, and economy
characteristics is considered as a hiccup in automobile. A car can be equipped
with tire self-inflation system to better accommodate handling, stability,
economy, and safety requirements. Properly inflated tires increase car stability
and reduce the danger of blowouts. They also ensure a cars proper braking
distance and overall vehicle handling and maneuverability. This paper, an
initiative towards a tire self-inflation system has been put forward which could be
beneficial for the public hereafter.

Introduction
Tire pressure is the factor which is neglected by many automobile users [1]. The
importance of tire inflation pressure on vehicle stability and safety can be
observed through tire road interface and subsequent lateral behavior. The
inflation pressure affects the generated tire forces, moments, and steering
properties. According to a survey 85% of the road users do not even bother to
check the tire pressure of their respected vehicle/automobile. The pressure loss is
sometimes very disastrous. It reduces lifespan of tire, reduces stability,
acceleration, handling, fuel efficiency as well as efficiency of braking system [2-5].
Thus, under inflation of tire leads to decrease the mobility of vehicle as well as it
increases the chances of major hazards such as tire-burst.
To investigate the impact of tire inflation pressure on vehicle dynamics, numerous
studies have been conducted for various operating condition and driving
scenarios. With the loss of pressure in tire, the diameter and resistance between
the tire and ground increases which will directly affects the economy and
acceleration of vehicle because in this case the car’s engine will require more
power to overcome this unwanted increased resistance offered by tire, also the
life span of tire will decrease. furthermore, not only it can cause poor handling
and stability but also it can cause tire blow out/burst. Hence, this will lead to tire
failure. Then there will be more chances of fatal accident due to tire failure in
which precious life could be loss. In short, we can say that our initiative will be a
life saver. We can save numerous precious lives by installing tire self-inflation
system in our vehicles.

Many road users have undoubtedly lost their precious lives on road due to tire
failure/burst. According to a survey conducted by national highway traffic safety
administration (NHTSA) of USA, the 35% of road accidents are caused by tire
failures/burst. A variety of tire monitoring strategies have been put forward to
warn drivers of low tire pressures. For instance, modern vehicles are equipped
with direct or indirect tire pressure monitoring system to warn/remind driver to
check the tire pressure [6-9]. Modern tire pressure monitoring systems not only
checks the tire pressure of vehicle but also gives/display warning on instrument
cluster. There are two types of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). One is
direct and other is indirect. In indirect TPMS uses an ABS system to monitor the
tire pressure the speed of wheel to record tire pressure readings correctly,
whereas in direct TPMS a small sensor directly mounted on tires of vehicles. In
short, direct TPMS gathers direct data from sensor placed on wheels and indirect
TPMS gathers data trough relative speed of tires. In this initiative, we are working
with direct TPMS in which an individual sensor will be placed on each wheel to
collect the data from individual tire.
Methodology
Tire self-inflation system is a basic modification of rim of the tire. Pumps are
placed in the rim of the tire to maintain the tire pressure that are operated by an
intelligent circuit superintend by an Arduino. Linear alternator is used to power
the circuit when vehicle is moving.

Equipment’s Quantity
20 W linear alternator 1
full wave rectifier 1
(78-GSIB2580N-M345)

2000 µF capacitor 1
6V Zener 2
BC 547 transistor 1
6V electric pump 2
electric pressure sensor 1
(MPS20NOO404)

Arduino uno R3 1
6 V rechargeable battery 1
a buzzer. 1

The linear alternator/generator [10-12] is a device which converts mechanical

energy to electrical energy. It works on the principle of electromagnetic induction.
When linear alternator is placed inside a tire rim, Movement of alternator in the
tire in cycloid motion produces to and fro motion between magnets and the coil
of alternator. The magnetic field will interfere with the electrons in the coil to
induce a flow of electric current inside it. A voltage of 4V to 20 V will be produced
with up to 2000mA of current. A full wave rectifier(78-GSIB2580N-M345) is used
to convert AC voltages to DC voltages requiring multiple diodes to construct. A
2000 µF capacitor is used to reduce the ripple/noises from the rectified wave. A
DC current is obtained in this procedure [13]

3d Model of Tire Self inflation System

The Arduino [14]is an open-source Microcontroller board based on microchip

ATmega328P microcontroller. This microcontroller takes input from different
sensors and then programmed to check/analyze or to perform desired
operations.

A linear alternator/generator is placed in tire rim which can produce alternating

current with rotation of tire. So, with the full rotation of tire, we have an output
of AC voltages ranging from 1-20V which is rectified using the above explained
procedure and it will be converted into DC.
 Movement of alternator [15]

The electric pressure sensor will be placed directly on tire nozzle (direct TPMS) [6-
9]. This sensor will get data/tire pressure directly and give input to Arduino to
check whether tire pressure is low or equal to desired level. The Arduino UNO R3
will take input from the electric pressure sensor to monitor the tire pressure.

Schematic diagram of the circuit

If the pressure is low than desired level, and the vehicle is moving (moment of the
vehicle will be known if there is any input into the Arduino from the supply
“alternator”) then Arduino will turn the power on to the base of transistor.
Collector of the transistor will be attached to the supply “alternator” and emitter
will be attached to the electric pump and the buzzer. Electric pump will turn on to
maintain the tire pressure. A buzzer/warn light is installed to warn driver that the
tire pressure is below the desired level and the tire self-inflation system is on. A
rechargeable battery is installed to save information in the Arduino. This battery
will be connected to the DC, (produced above) will be automatically recharged
when the vehicle is moving. A delay will be programmed in the Arduino so that
pump should not be started by a change caused by the bump.

Prototype

Result and Discussion

Tire self inflation system is a cheap solution of tire deflation. When placed in rim
of the tire, self inflation system works efficiently. It started inflating the tire 5
seconds after the decrease of the pressure (delay was programmed in the arduino
so that the system does not get start after a bump as pressure is increased).
Pressure is checked after every 5 second. Sudden decreased in the pressure is not
treated as it is caused by a tire bust.

Like other research, maintaining the tire pressure of the tire results is increase in
the life span of tire which is increased by 1.5x and risk of fatal accident reduced to
3x [3]. (According to an AI simulation). Self inflation tire system reduces waiting
time of the driver during inflation and very importantly it increases the safety
level of the vehicle. Fuel consumption of vehicle is more efficient if tire pressure is
good leading to power and energy saving.

Currently lots of consumer vehicles are equipped with pressure-monitoring

systems, but there’s no way for driver to do anything about it without an external
air source. If we compare the tire self-inflation system vs other systems which are
available in market. The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) is only available
in market which is equipped in every new coming vehicle. The TPMS only checks
the tire pressure and warns the driver about it and have no mechanism of
maintaining the tire pressure. Our initiative is also the application of TPMS as we
are using the direct TPMS to take the pressure readings from individual tire.

QUALITY SELF-INFLATION TIRE PRESSURE

TIRE SYSTEM MONITERING SYSTEM

CHECKS AND INDICATE ✔ ✔

DISPLAY PRESSURE X ✔

WARNS LOW PRESSURE ✔ ✔

MAINTAINS TIRE PRESSURE ✔ X

There are lots of self-inflation tire systems are available on market, but most of
them are only available for commercial and military applications. There are other
tire self-inflation systems are introduced by many companies like Mercedes G
wagon (SIT), CTIS of Hummer etc. but they are not practical, have number of
shortcomings and specially they are not cost effective, so we cannot use them
commercially/on passenger cars.

The display will be added later so the driver may monitor the tire pressure if he
wants, also it will indicate/warn the driver, so he should slow down and wait for
the green signal from our self-inflation tire system. A buzzer is added to the
system which will inform driver that our system is working to maintain the tire
pressure. In future, our model will be equipped with a wireless system which will
allow the driver to change the tire pressure to desired one specially for snow, hilly
or desert areas. This system will also be able to automatically detects the weather
conditions (like temperature and humidity) and will automatically maintains the
tire pressure according to environmental conditions.

Conclusion
Low tire pressure affects your car's handling. Low tire pressure can be especially
damaging when there is a need of responsiveness, cornering or traction braking
from your car. Low tire pressure robs your tires of the grip and responsiveness.
The deflation of the pneumatic tires impinges the vehicle’s handling, stability,
safety, and economy characteristics of vehicle. A car tire self-inflation system
implements better handling, stability, economy, and safety requirements.

Proper air pressure in a tire helps to distribute the weight of a vehicle evenly
across the tire’s tread pattern, so the tire (and the vehicle) is at its most stable.
When a tire is under-inflated or over-inflated, it loses stability, negatively affecting
handling, cornering, and stopping. Eventually the tire will also start to wear
unevenly. Under-inflated tires tend to show wear on the outside edges of the
tread, while over-inflated tires show wear down the middle of the tread.

QUALITY OVER PROPER UNDER

INFLATION INFLATION INFLATION

TRACTION X ✔ X

DAMAGES ✔ X ✔

HARSH/NOISY ✔ X ✔

RESPONSIVE X ✔ X

PERFORMANC ✔ ✔ X
 E

SAFETY X ✔ X

FUEL SAVING ✔ ✔ X

HANDLING ✔ ✔ X

BRAKING X ✔ X

OVERHREAT X X ✔

Comparison of TIRE PRESSURE

Reference
1. Rouf, Ishtiaq, Rob Miller, Hossen Mustafa, Travis Taylor, Sangho Oh,
Wenyuan Xu, Marco Gruteser, Wade Trappe, and Ivan Seskar. "Security and
Privacy Vulnerabilities of {In-Car} Wireless Networks: A Tire Pressure
Monitoring System Case Study." In 19th USENIX Security Symposium
(USENIX Security 10). 2010.
2. Wei, Lingtao, Xiangyu Wang, Liang Li, Lu Yu, and Zijun Liu. "A Low-Cost
Tire Pressure Loss Detection Framework Using Machine Learning." IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics 68, no. 12 (2020): 12730-12738.
3. Persson, Niclas, Stefan Ahlqvist, Urban Forssell, and Fredrik Gustafsson.
"Low tire pressure warning system using sensor fusion." In SAE
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS P, pp. 77-80. SAE; 1999, 2001.
4. Sebaaly, Peter, and Nader Tabatabaee. "Effect of tire pressure and type on
response of flexible pavement." Transportation Research Record 1227
(1989): 115-127.
5. Reiter, Mark, and John Wagner. "Automated automotive tire inflation
system–effect of tire pressure on vehicle handling." IFAC Proceedings
Volumes 43, no. 7 (2010): 638-643.
6. Velupillai, Sankaranarayanan, and Levent Guvenc. "Tire pressure
monitoring [applications of control]." IEEE Control systems magazine 27,
no. 6 (2007): 22-25.
7. Caban, Jacek, Paweł Droź dziel, Dalibor Barta, and Štefan Lišč ák. "Vehicle
tire pressure monitoring systems." Diagnostyka 15, no. 3 (2014): 11-14.
8. Pohl, Alfred, G. Ostermayer, L. Reindl, and F. Seifert. "Monitoring the tire
pressure at cars using passive SAW sensors." In 1997 IEEE Ultrasonics
Symposium Proceedings. An International Symposium (Cat. No.
97CH36118), vol. 1, pp. 471-474. IEEE, 1997.
9. Persson, Niclas, Fredrik Gustafsson, and Markus Drevö. "Indirect tire
pressure monitoring using sensor fusion." SAE Transactions (2002): 1657-
1662.
10.Gouda, Mohamed G., and F. Furman Haddix. "The linear alternator."
In WSS, pp. 31-47. 1997.
11.Famouri, Parviz, William R. Cawthorne, Nigel Clark, Subhash Nandkumar,
Christopher Atkinson, Richard Atkinson, Thomas McDaniel, and Sorin
Petreanu. "Design and testing of a novel linear alternator and engine system
for remote electrical power generation." In IEEE Power Engineering
Society. 1999 Winter Meeting (Cat. No. 99CH36233), vol. 1, pp. 108-112.
IEEE, 1999.
12.Mao, Jinlong, Zhengxing Zuo, Wen Li, and Huihua Feng. "Multi-
dimensional scavenging analysis of a free-piston linear alternator based on
numerical simulation." Applied Energy 88, no. 4 (2011): 1140-1152.
13.Gift, Stephan JG. "A high-performance full-wave rectifier
circuit." International Journal of Electronics 87, no. 8 (2000): 925-930.
14.Badamasi, Yusuf Abdullahi. "The working principle of an Arduino."
In 2014 11th international conference on electronics, computer and
computation (ICECCO), pp. 1-4. IEEE, 2014.
15.https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/cycloid.html
16.Reiter, Mark, and John Wagner. "Automated automotive tire inflation
system–effect of tire pressure on vehicle handling." IFAC Proceedings
Volumes 43, no. 7 (2010): 638-643.
17.d’Ambrosio, Stefano, Edoardo De Mattei, Roberto Vitolo, and Nicola
Amati. "Automatic adjustment of tire inflation pressure through an
intelligent CTIS: Effects on the vehicle lateral dynamic
behavior." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D:
Journal of Automobile Engineering 235, no. 14 (2021): 3487-3508.