A station for checking a tyre for vehicle wheels. The checking station includes a background with a support surface lying on a plane perpendicular to a reference axis, an image acquisition apparatus to acquire an image of the tyre arranged with a first outer lateral surface in contact with the support surface and a second outer lateral surface facing the image acquisition apparatus, an illumination system and a computer for generating a working image from the acquired image. The image acquisition apparatus, the illumination system and of the background are arranged to generate a contrast, in the working image, between the entire second outer lateral surface of the tyre and an area circumferentially surrounding the tyre.

A method includes receiving a first input that indicates an aspect of a tire and capturing a first image of the tire. The method also includes communicating, to a remotely located server, the first image of the tire and receiving, from the server, at least one of a brand of the tire, a model of the tire, and a size of the tire. The method also includes capturing a baseline measurement of a tread depth of the tire and calculating an actual tread depth of the tire. The method also includes calculating, using information stored in a database and based on the actual tread depth of the tire and the at least one of the brand of the tire, the model of the tire, and the size of the tire, a value of the tire.

A method of detecting damage in a target object comprises sensing a deformation and/or a force of a target object as the target object traverses a surface; comparing the sensed deformation and/or contact force of the target object to baseline data associated with an undamaged object; and detecting damage to the target object based upon the comparison of the sensed deformation and/or force of the target object to the baseline data associated with the undamaged object. A system for detecting damage comprises at least one sensor configured to sense the deformation and/or the force of the target object as the target object traverses a surface; and a controller in communication with the at least one sensor, wherein the controller is configured to analyze the deformation and/or the force sensed by the at least one sensor to detect damage to the target object.

An apparatus and a method for checking tyres is described. The apparatus has a first check unit having an inlet for tyres and a plurality of check tools. The apparatus has a second check unit having an outlet for the tyres and a plurality of check tools. The apparatus has an overturning and transport device operatively interposed between the first check unit and the second check unit. The first check unit, the second check unit and the overturning and transport device define a check path configured to be traversed by each tyre step by step. The first check unit and the second check unit have the same check tools configured for executing the same checks on respective axial halves of the tyres.

Described herein are systems and methods for determination of rolling resistance from a sensor or sensors in a tire or tires for application in smart cars to provide feedback to interested parties, such as Departments of Transportation or tire manufacturers.

A vehicle includes: a tire monitor, located in a wheel arch and configured to: project beam(s) onto a tire, measure reflection(s) of the beam(s); memory, processor(s) configured to, based on the reflection(s): build a two-dimensional (2D) profile of the tire, compare depths of the built profile to depths of a preloaded profile, assess tire wear based on the comparison.

A method and apparatus for detecting defects on tyres in a tyre production process. The method includes: receiving a reference image of a surface portion of a reference tyre substantially defects-free; providing a sample tyre to be analysed; illuminating a surface portion of the sample tyre with a raking light source; acquiring a sample image of the illuminated surface portion of the sample tyre; extracting the edges from the reference image and from the sample image and respectively generating an edge reference image and an edge sample image; carrying out a dilation of the edges of the edge reference image and generating therefrom a dilated edge reference image; comparing the edge sample image with respect to the dilated edge reference image and generating an edge image of possible defects; and identifying the edges in the edge image of possible defects.

A method and apparatus for checking tyres in a tyre production line. The method includes alternately illuminating, with a first and second grazing light radiation, a surface portion of the tyre and respectively acquiring a first and second two-dimensional digital image of the illuminated surface portion. For each point of the surface portion, the respective overall light power of the first and second light radiation incident at the point respectively comes from two half-spaces that are opposite with respect to an optical plane passing through the perpendicular to the surface at the point; and comparing the first and second image to obtain information on an altimetric profile of the surface portion.

A device, system, and method for optically measuring the tread depth of a tire mounted on a vehicle, wherein at least one of a camera, a processor, and an onboard computer may be configured to determine the tread depth from images of the tire tread. Tread depth may be measured when the vehicle is either stationary or moving. Tread depth may be measured either manually by a vehicle operator or automatically by the optical-based tread depth measuring system.

A method for segmenting the surface of a tire including at least one groove, includes: irradiating a portion of the surface of the tire by means of electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength in the visible spectrum; acquiring an image of the irradiated portion of the surface; and processing the image so as to segment it into regions corresponding to regions of the tire which do or do not belong to the at least one groove. Additionally, processing the image so as to segment it includes: calculating a statistical quantity associated with the irradiation by electromagnetic radiation for each region of the image; and determining whether the region of the image does or does not belong to the at least one groove according to the value of the statistical quantity. Equipment for segmenting a surface of a tire including at least one groove.