INSIA Dynamometric wheel: produce safer and more reliable, efficient and durable vehicles. A wheel that measures the forces and moments generated in the tire-road contact area to improve the safety of vehicles. INSIA Dynamometric wheels measure the forces and moments generated at the tire-road contact area. For that purpose, the wheels of the vehicle are directly instrumented with strain gauges. As the vehicle keeps its original wheels, its dynamic behavior is not altered. It is estimated that the cost of the components that are necessary to produce these dynamometric wheels is almost two orders of magnitude lower than the price of a commercial dynamometric wheel. This makes affordable to run a car or a truck with a full set of dynamometric wheels. Now, it is possible to use dynamometric wheels for other applications that used to be economically unfeasible, such as for example, using them to provide information to the active safety systems of the vehicle. “Now, it is possible to use dynamometric wheels in Research Centres and Universities, and for other applications that used to be economically unfeasible” Technology solution In order to fully understand the dynamic behavior of the vehicle, accurate experimental data of the tire-road contact forces and moments are needed. INSIA Dynamometric wheels measure these forces and moments by mounting in a very special way a set of strain gauges on the vehicle’s wheels. The strain gauges are grouped in at least three concentric circumferences and in equidistant radial lines. The strain signals of the same circumference are linearly combined to obtain at least two new signals that only depend on the contact forces and moments. The influence of the angle rotated by the wheel, the temperature or the centrifugal forces is eliminated in these new signals by using a technique based on the elimination of Fourier harmonics. The contact forces and moments are obtained from these new signals by solving two systems of linear equations with three unknowns each. An onboard electronic system including telemetry is being developed in the University of La Coruña. Areas of application  Modeling tires and vehicles.  Produce safer and more reliable, efficient, and durable components.  Improve the performance of the active safety systems of the vehicle (ABS and ESP).  Research and education. Technology solution supported by the Technical University of Madrid

Competitive advantages Commercial dynamometric wheels have different inertial properties than the original wheels of the vehicle, and can therefore alter their dynamic behavior. INSIA dynamometric wheels are produced by directly instrumenting the vehicle’s wheels, so its dynamic behavior remains unaltered. Commercial dynamometric wheels have a very high cost, much higher than the price of the whole vehicle (approximately 100,000 Euros for cars and 200,000 Euros for trucks) and are prohibitive for most potential customers such as universities and small research centers. The estimated cost to produce these INSIA dynamometric wheels is approximately of 2,000 Euros, which makes affordable to run a car with four dynamometric wheels. Errors below 2% have been obtained in the static experimental tests. References Javier García de Jalón: Professor of the Technical University of Madrid. IFToMM Award of Merit and ASME D’Alembert Award in Washington,USA Mª Dolores Gutiérrez-López: PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering. Industrial Engineer and Bachelor in Business Administration. University Education National Award. “INSIA dynamometric wheels can be used to produce safer and more reliable, efficient and durable vehicles” Market demands  Universities/Research Centers: Universities and research centers can use dynamometric wheels to model vehicles and tires. The objective of tire modeling is to find mathematical expressions related to the forces and torques appearing in the tire-road contact with different variables. In order to verify the quality of these formulated mathematical models and verify whether they adjust to reality or not, obtaining experimentally the contact forces and moments becomes necessary.  Tire and automotive component manufacturers: Tire manufacturers need to compare the forces generated and transmitted by different tire models to determine the best alternative for a certain application. In addition, the design and validation of automobile components requires a detailed knowledge of the forces and the moments acting on the tire-road contact, which allows vehicle designers to produce safer and more reliable, efficient, and durable components.  Automobile companies: The performance of the active safety systems of the vehicle, such as ABS and ESP, can be significantly improved if more detailed information in real time of the forces applied to the tire-road contact could be obtained. This information, which can be used to determine possible dangerous situations, can be obtained by using dynamometric wheels. Therefore, safer vehicles that include dynamometric wheels can be produced. Market potential If the automotive industry were a country, it would be the world’s sixth largest economy [OICA, 2005]: No. of manufactured vehicles in a year: 66 million. Turnover: 2,000 billion euros. R&D investment: 85 billion euros. More than the 80% of the vehicles include sensors individual sensors can be found in a single vehicle [Bosch, 2009]. The potential of using dynamometric wheels as an information source for ABS and ESP is very high: Only Bosch produces 65,000 units of ABS daily [Fedit, 2010]. All vehicles produced in the UE since 2011 must have ESP. IPR  Patent granted in Spain ES  International patent applied via PCT PCT/ES2012/ WO2012/  Patent applied in US 14/002,858  European Patent applied via EPO EP Development stage INSIA Dynamometric wheel contact Javier García de Jalón and María Dolores Gutiérrez UPM contact Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Area Centre of Support for Technological Innovation – UPM Concept Lab Prototype Industrial Prototype R & D Production