Described herein are various systems and processes for predictive operating assistance of vehicles. The systems and techniques described herein may be applicable to vehicles such as vehicles operated by a driver, semi-autonomous vehicles, and/or autonomous vehicles. The assistance techniques described herein may be predictive. That is, the techniques allow for the prediction of non-optimal or dangerous operating conditions before the vehicle control is compromised. Accordingly, a warning may be provided and/or operation of the vehicle may be changed based on the predictive assistance determinations. In certain embodiments, the techniques described herein may provide warnings to a driver, may detect faults within the vehicle, may aid in route planning, may detect obstacles proximate to the vehicle, and/or may aid in the operation of the vehicle.

A method and device may be used for scanning communication protocols for a sensor of a motor vehicle electronic tire pressure monitoring system. The method may include selecting a make and a model of a motor vehicle. The method may include transmitting one or more activation signals. The one or more activation signals may be transmitted in sequential order according to a scanning protocol. The scanning protocol may be based on a predefined parameter. Each of the one or more activation signals may be associated with a different communication protocol. The method may include stopping the transmission of the one or more activation signals on a condition that a signal from a sensor is received.

At a control circuit of a TPM sensor, one or more of a first adjustment to the periodicity, a second adjustment to the content, and a third adjustment to the length of a message are determined based upon the operational history of the sensor. The adjustments are applied to the messages and adjusted messages are transmitted.

Approaches are provided where direct communications between tire pressure sensors are provided. One sensor may act as a teacher while other sensors may act as students and learn from the teacher sensor.

An apparatus and method is provided that includes measuring a tire pressure for at least one tire with at least one tire pressure sensor. The tire pressure sensor has at least a first resolution for transmitting pressure information and a second resolution for transmitting pressure information that is higher than the first resolution. If a measured tire pressure is determined to be above a predetermined pressure threshold, the apparatus and method identify whether the tire pressure sensor has experienced at least one predetermined vehicle operating characteristic, and/or identify whether the tire pressure sensor has been activated by a command. The tire pressure sensor is only locked into the second resolution if the tire pressure sensor has experienced the at least one predetermined vehicle operating characteristic or if the tire pressure sensor has been activated by the command.

A method of monitoring the pressure of a tire of an aircraft, the method including: taking two or more pressure readings from the tire at different times; calculating an estimated deflation rate based on the pressure readings; and calculating a time for the tire to deflate to a reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate. Two or more temperature readings are each associated with one of the pressure readings, and the estimated deflation rate is calculated by normalising each pressure reading based on its associated temperature reading and a common reference temperature to obtain a temperature-normalised pressure reading, and calculating the estimated deflation rate based on the temperature-normalised pressure readings. The estimated deflation rate is compared with a threshold, and a warning provided if the estimated deflation rate exceeds the threshold.

A tire pressure sensor device (122) for a wheel (112) of an aircraft (102) including a pressure sensor (124) for measuring the internal pressure of a tire, a temperature sensor (126) for measuring a temperature local to the tire (116), a memory unit (131) local to the tire for storing data, and a control unit (128) local to the tire arranged to record in the memory unit (131) data of the readings taken at intervals of time. The data recorded for each reading includes an indication of the time of the reading, the tire pressure and the temperature local to the tire. Measurements may be taken and recorded over time, both when the aircraft is on the ground and when the aircraft is in flight. Data may be uploaded to a portable handheld device (140) for analysis when maintaining the tires in their correctly inflated state.

A method for determining a wheel load acting on a vehicle wheel having a rim, a tire mounted on the rim and a sensor unit mounted at the wheel, includes determining a tire pressure of the tire using the sensor unit, determining a tire footprint of the tire using the sensor unit when the vehicle is driving, determining the wheel load based on a predetermined relationship between the wheel load, the tire pressure and the tire footprint, analyzing temporal variations of the tire pressure during a standstill of the vehicle for determining one or more parameters indicating temporal variations of the tire pressure. A change of the wheel load during the standstill is estimated based on the determined parameters. A device for determining a wheel load and a method and a device for determining a weight of a vehicle are also provided.

An apparatus for determining tire pressure of an aircraft tire. The apparatus includes a processing system configured to: obtain a first set and a second set of tire measurement data for an aircraft, wherein the first set is from a start of a flight cycle and the second set is from a time before the first set; and determine a steady state tire pressure based on the first and second sets of measurement data.

A tire pressure sensor device (122) for a wheel (112) of an aircraft (102) including a pressure sensor (124) for measuring the internal pressure of a tire, a temperature sensor (126) for measuring a temperature local to the tire (116), a memory unit (131) local to the tire for storing data, and a control unit (128) local to the tire arranged to record in the memory unit (131) data of the readings taken at intervals of time. The data recorded for each reading includes an indication of the time of the reading, the tire pressure and the temperature local to the tire. Measurements may be taken and recorded over time, both when the aircraft is on the ground and when the aircraft is in flight. Data may be uploaded to a portable handheld device (140) for analysis when maintaining the tires in their correctly inflated state.