System and method for monitoring vehicle conditions affecting tires

A method for monitoring at least tire tread wear of a vehicle tire, comprising the steps of:

• sensing at least one of radial and lateral acceleration of a tire to provide acceleration signals;
• determining at least one resonance frequency of at least one of the radial and lateral acceleration of the tire based on the acceleration signals;
• comparing the at least one resonance frequency to at least one stored frequency and determining the tire tread wear on the basis of the comparison;
• providing an information signal indicative of tire tread wear;
• and
• transmitting the information signal indicative of tire tread wear to a driver information display.

A system for monitoring at least shock absorber performance of a shock absorber attached to a vehicle wheel, comprising:

• a sensor which senses at least radial acceleration of the wheel to provide acceleration signals;
• a driver information display;
• and
• at least one processor, responsive to acceleration signals from the sensor, which calculates a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the acceleration signals measured over a time duration longer than a vehicle suspension time constant, determines an amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration, compares the amplitude to a stored amplitude indicative of a new shock absorber for the vehicle, and determines shock absorber performance on the basis of any change in the amplitude over the stored amplitude, and provides an information signal indicative of shock absorber performance which is transmitted to the river information display.

A method for monitoring at least shock absorber performance of a shock absorber attached to a vehicle wheel, comprising the steps of:

• sensing at least radial acceleration of the wheel to provide acceleration signals;
• calculating a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the acceleration signals measured over a time duration longer than a vehicle suspension time constant;
• determining an amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration;
• comparing the amplitude to a stored amplitude indicative of a new shock absorber for the vehicle;
• determining shock absorber performance on the basis of any increase in the amplitude over the stored amplitude;
• providing an information signal indicative of shock absorber performance;
• and
• transmitting the information signal indicative of shock absorber performance to a driver information display.

A system for monitoring at least a balance condition of a vehicle tire, comprising:

• a sensor which senses at least radial acceleration of the tire to provide acceleration signals;
• a driver information display;
• and
• at least one processor, responsive to acceleration signals from the sensor, which calculates a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the acceleration signals measured over a time duration longer than a vehicle suspension time constant, determines an amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration, compares the amplitude to a stored amplitude indicative of a specification predetermined balanced tire for the vehicle, and determines any out of specification predetermined balance condition of the tire on the basis of any increase in the amplitude over the stored amplitude.

A method for monitoring at least a balance condition of a vehicle tire, comprising the steps of:

• sensing at least radial acceleration of the tire to provide acceleration signals;
• calculating a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the acceleration signals measured over a time duration longer than a vehicle suspension time constant;
• determining an amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration;
• comparing the amplitude to a stored amplitude indicative of a specification predetermined balanced tire for the vehicle;
• determining any out of specification predetermined balance condition of the tire on the basis of any increase in the amplitude over the stored amplitude;
• providing an information signal indicative of the balance condition;
• and
• transmitting the information signal indicative of the balance condition to a driver information display.