New internal power generation tech from Sumitomo can detect tyre wear

HANAU (Germany): Falken’s parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries has announced a new sensor to measure tyre wear that will help engineers to create longer lasting tyres.

The development of the sensor is a joint project between the company and Professor Hiroshi Tani of Kansai University.

The so-called "Miniature Energy Harvester" is a sustainable technique. It uses the rotation of a tyre to generate electricity and supply power to peripheral sensors installed in the tyre without relying on batteries.

The technology enables the calculation of a tyre’s contact patch and wheel rotations, and harvests stress levels based on amplitude changes induced by tyre rotation. The data obtained can then be extrapolated to determine tyre wear.

At the same time, the research team has developed a technique to measure the tyre contact patch by installing several miniature energy harvesters in each tyre and reading into the data they gather. These new technologies open the door to different applications and provide information that can be incorporated into future tyre developments.

“This new Energy Harvester technology is a big step towards the implementation of our sustainability policy, it supports us in developing tyres with an optimised contact patch and thus longer life,” said Dr Bernd Löwenhaupt, managing director at Sumitomo Rubber Europe GmbH.