Sensata Technologies has announced a collaboration with Swedish-based NIRA Dynamics AB to deliver a new tire Tread Depth Monitoring (TDM) "virtual sensor" system for OEMs. According to the March 16 announcement, the system will optimize tire health and improve safety and efficiency.

It will be powered by NIRA Dynamics’ tread wear estimation software and give vehicle OEMs, drivers, and fleets timely alerts when tires have worn to unsafe levels and need to be serviced. The system gathers and combines data from multiple existing sensors on a vehicle and offers new safety and maintenance capabilities based on a complex algorithm that monitors the tire tread’s decreasing depth, while compensating for a wide range of real-world environmental challenges. The system tracks tires through changes and rotations and provides a more comprehensive solution than simply distance travelled.   

The virtual TDM can be integrated into existing Electronic Control Units and is designed to work with many combinations of tire and vehicle designs, the announcement said. Vehicle manufacturers can quickly introduce and implement the solution across vehicle platforms without the need for custom software development.

"We're excited to collaborate with NIRA Dynamics on new technology for the automotive industry," Eric Sorret, vice president of automotive at Sensata technologies said. "Sensata has developed tire technologies for more than 20 years, and we believe that this new virtual sensor builds on this experience and takes it to the next level. Using and analyzing data already being captured by other sensors, this solution provides accurate and useful information to our customers."

"The cooperation between NIRA and Sensata is a perfect match,"Lisa Åbom, CEO at NIRA Dynamics, added. "By combining our decades of experience in vehicle data cloud services with Sensata’s Tire Pressure Monitoring System, infrastructure, and extensive customer base, we can offer vehicle manufacturers additional insights and information for customers without the need to fit additional hardware on the vehicle. This solution will improve safety, creating more driver awareness about the quality of their tires to decrease the number of tire-related accidents.”