Enables tyre status and loading monitoring, in addition to high-accuracy pressure sensing and value-added services
To facilitate mandatory tyre-pressure monitoring for commercial vehicles, including heavy-duty and passenger cars and enable future generations of smart tyres, the MLX91805 has been specially designed to be embedded in the tyre, unlike current rim-mounted TPMS sensors. The sensor integrates an 800g XZ-axis accelerometer that can sense up to 10,000 samples per second. It also integrates a high-accuracy pressure sensor as well as temperature and voltage sensors.
Integrating a low-power 16-bit microcontroller and 315/433 MHz RF transmitter that draws just 5mA at 5dBm output power and with an extremely low 90nA sleep current, the MLX91805 can operate from a tiny battery for the life of the tyre. In addition to built-in diagnostics and fault detection, a math coprocessor allows fast and energy-efficient Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Further assisting the development of smart tyres, the MLX91805 comes with application-level software capturing and interpreting key information like accelerometer signals of the tyre footprint area.
“The interface between the tyre and the road has a huge influence on vehicle behaviour. This is exactly where the new sensor is designed to be, capturing information directly from the road,” said Ivan Zagan, Product Manager Tire Monitoring Sensors at Melexis. “This device lets tyre manufacturers create the next generation of smart tyres to deliver extra value for owners and operators, enabling new services to maximise fuel efficiency and safety, and contribute to the development of self-driving vehicles.”
The MLX91805 is available in a 5mm x 4mm DFN14 package from Melexis.
