In-motion type pressure control system for vehicles

Vehicles used in military, agricultural, forestry, or construction applications often encounter different road surfaces during a single journey. In order to optimise the mobility of these vehicles, different tyre pressures are required for different types of terrain (sand, mud, cross country, tar road, etc.). A tyre pressure control system will enable the vehicle´s operator to change the tyre pressures without leaving the vehicle. Such a system will not only allow optimum surface contact between the tyres and the terrain-thus improving vehicle traction, but it can also increase the lifespan of the tyres and reduce fuel consumption. The key design criteria for such a system are: quick reaction times, an effective operator interface, and reliability. The focus of this paper is on the design of a tyre pressure control system, receiving inputs from the driver and on-board vehicle sensors, and then adjusting individual tyre pressures-if necessary-while the vehicle is on the move. Based on the inputs to the control system, the optimum setting for the tyre pressure is determined from a look-up table stored in memory of an on-board computer