Smart tyres hug the road
智能轮胎助行驶

Keeping a grip
保持抓地力

Jun 30th 2009
From Economist.com

A new type of tyre can help to avoid a skid
新型轮胎可防止打滑

FEW sensations of helplessness match that of driving a car that unexpectedly skids. In a modern, well-equipped (and often expensive) car, electronic systems like stability and traction control, along with anti-lock braking, will kick in to help the driver avoid an accident. Now a new tyre could detect when a car is about to skid and switch on safety systems in time to prevent it. It could also improve the fuel-efficiency of cars to which it is fitted.

     开车过程中由于意外打滑而感到无能为力是很罕见的。在当代，装备精良（同样也很昂贵）的汽车，诸如稳定控制系统和牵引力控制系统之类的电子系统，与防抱死系统相结合，有助于防止事故的发生。如今，一种新的轮胎可以探测到汽车的打滑倾向，从而转换到安全模式来防止其发生。它还可以提高安装此种轮胎的车辆的燃料效率。

Pirelli, an Italian tyremaker, has developed what it calls the Cyber Tyre. In it is embedded a small device containing miniature sensors that can measure the acceleration and deceleration along three axes at the point of contact with the road. A tiny transmitter in the device sends those readings to a unit that is linked to the braking and other control systems.

     意大利轮胎制造商倍耐力（Pirelli）生产出了这种被称为 Cyber Tyre的轮胎。这种轮胎植入了一种含有很多微型传感器的小装置，这种装置可以沿三轴测量轮胎与地面接触处的加速和减速。装置中有一个微型的发射器将读数发送到与防抱死和其他控制系统相连接的一个装置中。

Developing the tyre has taken nine years so far. The main difficulty has been to make the sensor very small and light but capable of operating in harsh conditions. Accelerometers are already used in cars: for activating airbags, when they pick up the large decelerations that occur in crashes, for example, or for stability control, when they measure the acceleration during cornering and provide input to traction systems. These accelerometers are relatively large. In the Cyber Tyre they are just a few millimetres across.

     研发这种轮胎至今已经经过了9年的时间。最主要的困难在于将传感器做的非常小和轻，并且能够在严酷的环境中工作。加速度感应器已经被应用在汽车中，例如用于探测到车祸中发生的剧烈减速时来激活安全气囊。稳定控制系统则被用于检测转向过程中的加速度并输入到牵引力控制系统中。这些感应器相对而言比较大。而在 Cyber Tyre中它们的直径则只有几毫米。

The accelerometers in the Cyber Tyre have two tiny structures, the distance between which changes during acceleration and alters the electrical capacitance of the device, which is measured and converted into voltage. Powered by energy scavengers that exploit the vibration of the tyre, the device encapsulating the accelerometers and the transmitter is about 2.5 centimetres in diameter and about the thickness of a coin.
      
     Cyber Tyre中的传感器有两个小的单元，这两个单元的距离会随加速度而改变，从而改变装置的电容容量，这个过程通过测量和转换为电压来进行。以“能量清道夫”从轮胎的震动中制造能源。装置将传感器和传送器封装在一起，直径约为2.5厘米，厚度和一个硬币相当。

The device is embedded in the tyre within the natural and synthetic rubber, carbon black and silica that are a tyre’s main components. It must work in extreme conditions. Tyre temperatures can reach as high as 80°C and as low as -40°C; the acceleration forces can reach several thousand times gravity. The device must also last longer than the tyre itself.

     装置被植入到以天然和人工橡胶，炭黑和矽土为组成成分的轮胎中。它必须能够在极端环境下正常工作。轮胎温度可以高达80摄氏度，也可能低至零下40摄氏度，在加速度作用下装置受力可达重力的几千倍。同时这一装置也必须拥有比轮胎本身更长的寿命。

Constantly monitoring the forces that tyres are subjected to as they grip the road could help reduce fuel consumption by optimising braking and suspension. Moreover, it could promote the greater use of tyres with a low rolling-resistance, which are often fitted to hybrid vehicles. These save fuel by reducing the resistance between the tyre and the road but, to do so, they have a reduced grip, especially in the wet. If fitted with sensors, such tyres could be more closely monitored and controlled in slippery conditions.

     在轮胎行进时持续检测轮胎受力，将刹车和悬挂系统调整在最佳状态也可以减少燃油消耗。再者，它还可以使轮胎获得低滚动阻力，这种技术常常应用在混合动力车上。但通过降低轮胎和地面间的阻抗力来节省燃料，同时也会减低轮胎的抓地力，特别是在潮湿的环境下。如果安装了传感器，此类轮胎在湿滑的情况下可以更好的监控和控制。

So far, the results are impressive. A prototype Cyber Tyre has been running on a test vehicle for the past nine months. Pirelli believes its new tyre could be fitted to cars in 2012 or 2013, but this will depend on when carmakers incorporate the necessary monitoring and control systems into their vehicles. Earlier this year Brembo, a brake manufacturer, and Magneti Marelli, which makes electronics for cars, joined forces to help develop systems for the Cyber Tyre. As with most innovations, these are expected to be available first in upmarket models before filtering down to cheaper cars. But if the introduction in 1973 of Pirelli’s steel-belted Cinturato radial tyre is any guide, devices that make cars safer will be adopted rapidly.

     迄今为止，结果令人鼓舞。Cyber Tyre的原型轮胎已经在一辆测试车辆上进行了九个月的测试。倍耐力相信它生产的新轮胎能够在2012或2013年装备车辆，但也取决于汽车制造商何时将配套的检测和控制系统加入他们的车辆。今年早些时候意大利刹车制造商贝尔伯（ Brembo）和车辆电气系统制造商玛涅蒂玛瑞利（Magneti Marelli）加入了Cyber Tyre的开发，帮助开发相关的系统。这些创新预计将会首先用于高档车辆，然后才逐步向低端市场扩展。而如果从1973年倍耐力引入钢丝子午线轮胎来看，使车辆更安全的设备会迅速的被应用。