SRI technology tackles wheel detachment
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), the parent company of Falken Tyre, has unveiled the newest feature of its Sensing Core technology, which aims to minimise the chance of loose wheel accidents, irrespective of wheel and tyre type.
The new wheel detachment function has already been introduced by one passenger car OEM, with HGVs set to follow suit.
“Crashes caused by wheel detachment have been previously described as ‘rare but catastrophic’, owing to the extreme nature of the failure – particularly within the transportation and logistics sectors,” said SRI.
“More dangerous than punctures – in which some structural integrity can be maintained – wheel detachment dramatically destabilises afflicted vehicles and can also severely endanger pedestrians and other road users.
“In recent years, accidents and injuries caused by detached wheels have become headline news in SRI’s home market, Japan, especially during the winter season, when car and truck drivers switch over to winter tyres and may not tighten the wheel nuts sufficiently.
“While many commercial vehicle operators use mechanical clips on the nuts as a visual check, these cannot be trusted implicitly as they are not 100 per cent reliable – therefore responsibility rests on the diligence of the driver to check them before each journey.”
SRI cites two examples in recent years of incidents involving wheel detachments: “In 2019 a family from Lincolnshire were involved in a collision after being hit by a wheel from a tractor and trailer – trapping the driver in the vehicle. And, in the US, two wheels detached from an articulated lorry in 2016, with one rolling down a hill striking pedestrian in the head and back – knocking them unconscious.”
Like other core elements of SRI’s Sensing Core, the wheel detachment function works independently of tyre make, model or size, says the company. It analyses wheel-speed signals and other information from the vehicle’s controller area network (CAN) to detect whether any wheel nuts are loose. It doesn’t require any additional sensors to integrate into the vehicle. The wheel detachment function can detect as little as one millimetre of looseness, the firm adds, a far tighter tolerance than a driver could reasonably be expected to feel.
“Sensing Core was initially developed in 2017 as an offshoot of SRI’s original deflation warning system (DWS), a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS),” explained the company.
“Today, DWS features in vehicles from 15 OEMs across the globe. Created to meet the rapidly evolving needs of Connected Autonomous Shared and Electric (CASE) vehicles and the growing mobility-as-a-service sector, Sensing Core is the centre of the peripheral services SRI is developing to protect all road users.
“This wider movement has seen SRI trial cloud-based TPMS technology with a rental company in Japan, demonstrating the efficiency, cost and safety value of tyre-based information. Using cloud-based technology, usage information from the vehicle can be used to accurately predict tyre wear and alert the driver or fleet manager of upcoming tyre replacement requirements.
“Expanding its commitments to developing this safety-focused cloud technology, SRI took to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January to announce its investment in Viaduct, an AI-powered, connected-vehicle analytics company with whom it has been working since 2023.
“Cloud-based and AI technologies could see exciting developments in the accumulation and analysis of critical vehicle and road condition data, potentially pathing the way for a future where wheel and tyre-related road accidents are eliminated.”
