Electronic Design
  • Resources
  • Directory
  • Webinars
  • CAD Models
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • More Publications
  • Advertise
    • Search
  • Top Stories
  • Tech Topics
  • Analog
  • Power
  • Embedded
  • Test
  • AI / ML
  • Automotive
  • Data Sheets
  • Topics
    - TechXchange Topics --- Markets --AutomotiveAutomation-- Technologies --AnalogPowerTest & MeasurementEmbedded
    Resources
    Electronic Design ResourcesTop Stories of the WeekNew ProductsKit Close-UpElectronic Design LibrarySearch Data SheetsCompany DirectoryBlogsContribute
    Members
    ContentBenefitsSubscribeDigital editions
    Advertise
    https://www.facebook.com/ElectronicDesign
    https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4210549/
    https://twitter.com/ElectronicDesgn
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXKEiQ9dob20rIqTA7ONfJg
    1. Markets
    2. Energy

    Energy Harvesting Looks To Solve Critical TPMS Issues

    Feb. 19, 2009
    Tire pressure is critical to automotive operation, but how do you power the systems that ensure its safety? Try putting the wheels’ motion to work for you.
    Roger Allan

    Ever since Porsche introduced the first direct-type tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) in 1997, manufacturers have been struggling to solve two major technical challenges: developing a TPMS that requires as little power as possible to operate (either from a battery or an energy scavenging technique or both) and a form factor that better suits a tire’s shape.

    On top of that, the need for a low-cost manufacturing approach overshadows both of these issues. The bill-of-materials cost has to be low enough to make TPMSs more attractive for automotive applications. The goal is to develop a more intelligent TPMS that will minimize if not eliminate battery operation.

    The market for energy scavenging and intelligent TPMSs isn’t fully developed yet but has some potential, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp. The first intelligent tires will arrive in 2010, and they’ll likely use batteries (Fig. 1). The first priorities will be improving electronic circuitry within the TPMS and improving power management, using battery technology that has yet to reach its limits.

    By 2012, iSuppli forecasts that the first energy scavengers for intelligent tires will appear in high-end cars as well some trucks, and larger volumes will occur by 2015. The iSuppli study forecasts a potential market by 2015 of 60 million TPMSs modules valued from $500 million to $600 million and scavengers ranging in price from $40 to $50.

    In the past couple of years, some notable efforts have resulted in low-power, more intelligent MEMS pressure sensors that minimize the need for power scavenging. For example, the SmartSense sCAP3 tire-pressure sensor from Kavlico Corp., an operation of Schneider Electric, is a CMOS-based, single-chip, 1.2- by l.5-mm capacitive sensing element.

    The sCAP3 operates on supplies as low as 1.8 V and draws a mere 20 µA in a 4- by 4-mm quad flat no-lead (QFN) package, so it can be powered by an inductive antenna as well as batteries. A temperature element on the chip allows temperature compensation of tire pressure measurements. A digital output eliminates the need for an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

    Siemens VDO (now part of Continental) introduced a slim form-factor TPMS that mounts next the tire’s wall, representing conventional TPMSs in tires. Working with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Siemens VDO has since introduced the intelligent Tire IQ pressure sensor. Unlike other TPMSs, it’s molded in the tire’s rim, not located within the wheel well (Fig. 2). This approach, while not supported by everyone in the automotive industry, signals a trend to move tire-pressure intelligence away from the wheel well and onto the tire itself.

    Piezo Technology Gaining Importance

    Many energy-harvesting techniques are under investigation for TPMSs. One of the most popular is the piezoelectric effect using PZT (lead zirconium titanate) compounds. Piezoelectricity results from the ability of crystals and certain ceramic materials to generate a voltage in response to mechanical stress. This type of energy can be generated within a wheel’s tire, stored in a capacitor, and used to power a TPMS.

    A major part of the success of piezo materials for TPMSs lies in developing a mass-production process that enables cost-effective energy harvesters to be manufactured. EoPlex Technologies is using one such process with five different proprietary printing materials. Its goal is to develop coin-size, low-cost, PZT TPMSs that can be embedded in a tire, operate without a battery, and send information to a car’s dashboard control wirelessly.

    The 3D printing process being used includes the manufacture of a tough ceramic outer package, the piezoelectric material to electrical power, a series of conductors and contacts to collect and carry the charge, a fugitive material to provide the space needed for the piezoelectric material to vibrate, and other specialized conductors or dielectrics (Fig. 3).

    Advanced Cerametrics has developed a proprietary viscous suspension spinning process (VSSP) for making nearly any ceramic material into fiber form. It can be used to produce energy harvesting, sensing, and actuation devices for many applications, including TPMSs. The patented process handles a variety of cross-section fiber geometrics within a wide diameter range of 15 µm to 1.5 mm.

    Also, the process features a clean burnout because it is cellulose-based. It’s a low-cost and robust manufacturing technology as well (Fig. 4). VSSP-made transponders have been successfully tested on Honda Civics, Lincoln Navigators, and Dodge Dakotas on the road, producing sufficient energy between 0.13 and 1.2 minutes for a single wireless transmission.

    “The breakthrough we made was by making the piezoelectric ceramic material flexible. Prior to that, it was brittle and could not be bent. We’re now looking to be cost-competitive with automotive and rechargeable batteries, as well as using the product in a car’s wheel axle,” says Richard “Bud” Cass, chairman of the board of Advanced Cerametrics.

    PiezoTAG Ltd. says that its piezoelectric TPMSs represent the “next generation in tire-pressure and temperature sensing.” They offer battery-less operation, harvesting power from a device within the tire using the tire’s rotation. The company also says the technology offers high RF transmission rates and frequencies for data reception (every 6 seconds). There’s no need for initiators in each wheel arch. And, there’s automatic wheel identification and location as well as easy OEM and retro-fit usage.

    Some companies are even making development kits for evaluating and simplifying energy harvesting designs available for many applications. The EH301 kit and EH301 EPAD energy harvesting modules from Advanced Linear Devics accept energy from a variety of sources that operate from vibration, light, chemical reaction, fluid and air flow, environment heat, and other effects.

    Related Articles

    Energy Harvester Perpetually Powers Wireless Sensors

    Active Auto Safety Markets Shine Beyond 2009

    The Field Of Energy Harvesting Begins To Ripen

    Continue Reading

    RF Transmitter Powers Battery-Free IoT Sensors

    Eliminate Resistive Cabin Heating in Electric Vehicles

    Sponsored Recommendations

    Designing automotive-grade camera-based mirror systems

    Dec. 2, 2023

    Design security cameras and other low-power smart cameras with AI vision processors

    Dec. 2, 2023

    Automotive 1 TOPS vision SoC with RGB-IR ISP for 1-2 cameras, driver monitoring, dashcams

    Dec. 2, 2023

    AM62A starter kit for edge AI, vision, analytics and general purpose processors

    Dec. 2, 2023

    Comments

    To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!

    I already have an account

    New

    Securing Data in the Quantum Era

    Celebrating Field Engineers: The Unsung Heroes of Innovation

    Checking Out the NXP Hovergames NavQ Plus

    Most Read

    MEMS Mirrors: The Next Big Wave in MEMS Technology

    Altech Corporation Products for Electronic Design

    Partnership Develops Coherent Detection-Based LiDAR Platforms


    Sponsored

    Accurately measure vital signs with low Iq and a small form factor

    3 benefits of using a low-Iq buck/boost converter to extend battery life in flow meters

    TTI Transportation Resource Center

    Electronic Design
    https://www.facebook.com/ElectronicDesign
    https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4210549/
    https://twitter.com/ElectronicDesgn
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXKEiQ9dob20rIqTA7ONfJg
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Do Not Sell or Share
    • Privacy & Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    © 2023 Endeavor Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Endeavor Business Media Logo