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.
Technology solution supported by the Technical University of Madrid
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.
“Now, it is possible to use dynamometric wheels
in Research Centres and Universities, and for
other applications that used to be economically
unfeasible”
Market demands
Competitive advantages
 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.
• 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.
“INSIA dynamometric wheels can be used to
produce safer and more reliable, efficient and
durable vehicles”
References
•Javier García de Jalón: Professor of the Technical
University of Madrid. IFToMM Award of Merit and
ASME D’Alembert Award in Washington ,USA. 2011
•Mª Dolores Gutiérrez-López: PhD Student in
Mechanical Engineering. Industrial Engineer and
Bachelor in Business Administration. University
Education National Award.
IPR
 Patent granted in Spain ES2363400.
 International
patent
applied
via
PCT
PCT/ES2012/000044 WO2012/117129.
 Patent applied in US 14/002,858
 European Patent applied via EPO EP12751901.5
Development stage
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.
60-70 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.
Concept
Industrial Prototype
R&D
Production
Lab Prototype
INSIA Dynamometric wheel contact
Javier García de Jalón and María Dolores
Gutiérrez
E-mail: [email protected];
[email protected]
UPM contact
Innovation, Commercialization and
Entrepreneurship Area
Centre of Support for Technological Innovation
– UPM
E-mail: [email protected]