Since the 1970’s the Anti-Lock Braking system, now almost ubiquitous, has been helping drivers retain control during heavy braking on wet or slippery roads. The wheel rotation sensors, at the heart of ABS, have been co-opted into traction and stability control systems. Drivers do not consciously rely on these systems to save them from a mistake but seasoned drivers (code of older people) will have noticed that they appear to be much better drivers now than when they were in their 20’s. Which is surprising as reaction times increase with age.

What has been happening over the last thirty years is that vehicle safety systems have become more intelligent and tyres have more grip resulting in minor driver errors being recoverable by a combination of driver input, ABS, ESC and ATC. This list of potentially lifesaving innovations will soon include ‘look-ahead systems’ preventing us from tailgating the car in front or straying out of our motorway lane. None of these worthwhile advances has relied upon sensors embedded in the tyre because such sensors were not needed. Will embedded tyre sensors be capable of delivering worthwhile improvements to safety and/or vehicle dynamics without causing service and support problems for vehicle owners.

Quiet tyres

To develop tyres that run more quietly, with better grip and with lower rolling resistance knowledge of what is happening to the tyre as inputs change is vitally important. There will always be a need for tyre sensors that can provide real operating data that supports the predictions made by the analytic tyre models that are increasingly at the centre of our tyre development. Bay Systems responded to this need in 2006 by developing the Tyre Cavity Microphone (TCM) and other measurement modules that are used to study the behaviour of tyres in the laboratory and more importantly on the road, the environment where they are used. When comparing laboratory and road measurement it was clear that road data contains random variations not seen in the laboratory, see figures 1a & b.

The sound pressure level (SPL) inside a tyre is usually dominated by cavity resonance modes, the primary mode being strongest. The rms level of the noise inside the tyre’s cavity, at any given speed, responds to the texture of the road surface, the coarser the texture the higher the rms level. With a little signal processing the signal from the TCM’s microphone can be processed to give an indication of the road surface condition as can the signal from the TCA’s accelerometer mounted or embedded in the tyre liner, see figures 2 a & b.

The microphone positioned on the rim and integrated into the TPMS housing is potentially in a much safer location than a sensor buried in the tyre’s structure. Tyre fitters are used to remove and install TPMS modules making maintenance easier and more affordable than repairing sensors buried in a tyre’s structure. Inevitably sensors and systems will fail and any sensor mounted in the tyre is destined to have a stressful life. Tyre liner temperatures can exceed 120 degrees C depending on; speed, ambient temperatures and tyre type. Elevated temperatures (>50 degrees C) degrade batteries and semi-conductors. Most semi-conductors fail or suffer dramatically shorter service lives if their ambient temperature regularly reaches 80-100-degree C.

For many drivers the prospect of warning lights burning on their dashboards due to tyre mounted transducers failing will be very unwelcome, particularly if the recommended cure is to buy a new tyre. If the only way to pass the annual vehicle inspection, common in many countries, is for the tyre safety system to be working or not fitted then the not fitted option will be preferred by most buyers of used vehicles. If SMART wheel sensors can be shown to deliver genuine benefits then integrating them into a rim mounted package might be the lowest risk approach, at least from the customer’s perception.

Universal TMS

A Universal Tyre Monitoring System (UTMS) package would therefore appear to be the most attractive option in terms of convenience and minimising the costs associated with maintenance and repair. Essentially the Bay Systems’ TCM system is a UTMS system, albeit for R&D use only. The key question is therefore; ‘Can the data from UTMS be usefully employed to enhance vehicle utility, handling and safety?’ This is a difficult question to answer, for handling and safety, as for these applications the chassis management system (CMS) computer must receive and process signals in real time for the information to be usefully employed. Being informed that road surface icing has occurred some 30 metres after the vehicle has transitioned onto ice is liable to be too late. The signal from a tread liner accelerometer, see figures 3a. shows the transition from wet to flooded road, N.B. the vehicle was not aquaplaning but a slight increase in speed might well have invoked it. This raw time history would need to be processed before it could be used to trigger an intervention, in figure 3b a wavelet transform is used to highlight the differences between wet and flooded road surfaces. Real time responses imply high data rates from sensors, which in turn result in higher power consumption. Getting power to and signals back from the two front wheel sensors, rear wheel road surface information is typically front wheel data delayed by 3 metres, or from all wheels will be a challenge. Vehicles may be parked for days and even weeks, UTMS must shut down completely to conserve battery life. This may be achieved using a motion switch, these are readily available but as always adding complexity increases the risk of failures. The bigger problem is how to maintain and recharge the battery during normal usage. Any form of physical coupling through a connector will certainly be damaged or fail through water ingress making some type of induction coupled charging a more attractive option.

Low power radio transmission has worked well for TCM. However, such a system across the entire vehicle fleet may present problems on densely trafficked roads. On a busy motorway a vehicle might pass within 2 metres of another vehicle at a rate of 10 per second. Should all of these vehicles be using the UTMS radio spectrum then there will be up to 40 channel contentions per second to resolve. It is unlikely that radio spectrum will be made available that allows space for more than 100 channels. Each vehicle’s UTMS radio system must be primed to channel hop to avoid contentions from up to 10 interfering vehicles per second while sustaining a minimum data rate of 100kbytes per second.

Such a work load imposed be an ever-changing mix of vehicles will be difficult to manage without gaps in the data. A possible solution exists if the transmitted power from UTMS is very low, to the point that signals are only detectable inside the transmitting vehicle’s own wheel arch. Very low power radio transmission also brings low power drain at the transmitter making power supply easier. However, it also implies that a high receiver sensitivity might be needed. The extremely weak signals from nearby vehicles may therefore become detectable which returns us to the problem of radio channel contentions. Setting a low transmission power limit is therefore likely to be an area of diminishing returns and the channel contention issue is likely to always exist for high data rates.

To calculate the instantaneous rolling resistance of each wheel the CMS will require only two measurements; the temperature of the tyre and its pressure. A once per second reading rate for these two parameters would be enough, due to the tyre’s relatively high thermal inertia and

the normally slow rate of change of inflation pressure. The liner temperature measurement might be over a single area or across a section of the tyre. In the case of our TCT system (aimed at tyre R&D) the measurement is over 64 pixels and can stretch from bead to bead or be focused on an area if interest e.g. the tyre’s shoulder with an accuracy of 0.1 degrees C and resolution of 0.01 degrees C. A measurement cycle, even at high resolution would require a data packet of less than 200 bytes which with overhead might be 1kbytes. This rate would fit into the radio channels even on a busy motorway making dynamic estimation of rolling resistance possible while real time road surface measurement would be problematic.

Rolling resistance can account for up to 30% of battery energy in an EV making the choice of tire and the way the vehicle is driven very important; potentially being the difference between driving and walking the last few miles home on a cold wet night! There will be, for any journey, an optimum vehicle speed and route where energy consumption will be minimized. The probability of reaching the destination will be increased if this route is followed but it is more important to alert the driver if there is a significant probability of not reaching the destination on the remaining battery charge.

EVs with batteries that are over three years old may have battery capacities of 80% or less of the new capacity. This makes a planned journey of just 100miles (160km) problematic, particularly when air conditioning, heater and windscreen wipers are all operating. This range deficit may increase with traffic conditions such as road works, detours, accidents etc. To increase driver confidence a fully integrated vehicle management and GPS route planning system would need to use environmental data such as ambient temperature, wind speed and direction together with vehicle data such as load and UTMS derived tyre liner temperature and pressure to calculate the projected energy consumption for any proposed route. For this total tyre energy budget to be calculated for the journey the full tyre specification will be needed for each tyre i.e. the rolling efficiency for all temperatures, inflation pressures, loads and temperatures. The GPS navigation system, using these parameters and taking into account traffic updates would then evaluate the probability of reaching the destination without a battery recharge. If the journey was beyond the battery range an alternative route would be suggested that would pass a recharging station.

Data accuracy

The key to all this working reliably will be the accuracy of the tyre specification data entered into the CMS. What will be needed will be the full energy dissipation profile for all conditions, not just the laboratory performance rating, though this would be better than nothing. Tyres are currently rated for energy dissipation (rolling resistance) when operating in a laboratory at 25 +/- 4 degrees C while running on a smooth steel road wheel. The tyre is run for 30 minutes at 80kph before the test, is correctly inflated and is carrying 80% of its maximum load. Our measurements have revealed that the liner temperature across similar tyres from different manufacturers can vary from 50 to 90 degrees C for this test.

Energy dissipation drives the liner temperature higher until thermal equilibrium is reached. On the road, in the real world, the maximum temperature measured on the liner of a Mazda BT50 pickup truck tyre was 45 degrees C when pulling a trailer at a steady 100kph for 6 hours with an air ambient temperature of 22 degrees C. i.e. much lower than would have been expected. Energy efficiency improves with increasing temperature at the rate of 0.6% per degree C, over the temperature range 15-50 degrees C. It is highly likely that most tyres operating in temperate regions are not delivering their labeled energy efficiencies because they are running cool. This applies even in the summer when ambient temperatures are near those specified for the laboratory. In the winter the Mazda truck tyre did not reach 30 degrees C. i.e. half of the lab test result and probably 2 full tyre grades worse performance than the label states, possibly resulting in a 5+ mile shortfall in vehicle range.

While the case for in tyre sensors and even rim-based sensor fitment to vehicles is open to debate the case for their use in R&D is now well proven and accepted. Tyre internal noise and tyre cavity resonance is easily and reliably measured with good accuracy, both on a laboratory road wheel and on the highway. The differences between tyres from different manufacturers can be quickly evaluated, see figures 4 a & 4b, allowing car makers to choose a tyre best suited to their vehicle and the road surfaces it is most likely to be driven over. For the tyre companies their new product development can be steered towards lower levels of noise and cavity resonant modes.

The primary cavity resonance mode if heard in the vehicle cabin is annoying and is often interpreted by the owner as a defect. For auto makers noise complaints are a concern as investigation in the field is costly and if unresolved becomes a barrier to a repeat sale. Tyre companies are encouraged by auto makers to reduce cavity resonant mode levels and reduce road noise. The loss of vehicle control is a much more serious matter and has always been at the top of the priority list for tyre and auto companies. The measurement of tyre liner acceleration provides a great deal of information including early warning that the threshold for aquaplaning is imminent, see figure 3a.

Reductions in pre and post contact patch waves, see them clearly in figure 5, that propagate around the tyre will lead to reductions in radiated noise and lower pass-by noise levels. No improvement in a tyre’s characteristic comes free of charge and this cost is often a trade off with other equally desirable characteristics. Typically, less grip and faster wear rates are what result when a tyre’s energy dissipation is improved. Wet grip performance is featured on the tyre label and who would deliberately choose a tyre with lower wet grip. Leaving the most likely trade off candidate as wear and of course faster wear means more particulates shed into the environment which is undesirable. It seems likely that wear rate will soon appear on the tyre label. There seem to be no unalloyed successes, only the least worst choices to be made!

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Dr Suttipong Angthong, Secretary-General of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), was a distinguished speaker at the World Elastomer Technology and Engineering Forum (WETEF) in Shanghai from 13 to 16 September 2026. Co-organised with RubberTech China, the event attracted over 100,000 professional visitors, industry leaders, scholars and executives from dozens of countries.

His participation delivered strategic benefits for ANRPC and its members by raising natural rubber's profile amid global discussions dominated by synthetic elastomers and advanced materials. Aligning with WETEF's eco-friendly manufacturing focus, he promoted climate-positive practices, traceability and environmentally sound processing methods.

The forum also created direct dialogue channels with major consuming markets and international technical institutions, strengthening trade synergies. It provided valuable insights into breakthrough elastomer science, helping member nations adapt to shifting international market demands.

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Kuraray Co., Ltd. has contributed JPY 9,896,480, roughly USD 64,000, to four international nonprofit organisations. The funds were generated through employee participation in ‘100 Challenge’, a global initiative tied to the company’s centennial observances.

The World Food Programme received JPY 2,804,003, while UNICEF was granted JPY 2,474,120. WaterAid obtained JPY 2,405,394 and WWF was allocated JPY 2,212,963. Each organisation’s share corresponded directly to points accumulated by Kuraray Group staff.

The Group marked its 100th anniversary in June 2026, adopting ‘Possible starts here’ and a related brand story as the guiding concept for its centennial activities. While honouring those who built its first century, Kuraray is pursuing diverse efforts intended to shape the next 100 years, with employees worldwide at the centre. The company seeks to connect staff across departments, countries and languages, fostering unity and connection.

A dedicated app called ‘100 Challenge’, inspired by younger employees, formed one such effort. Participants completed 100 in-app tasks, earning points that supported social contribution activities. The app provided a shared experience regardless of location or role, with individual efforts contributing to both a commemorative mosaic artwork and charitable donations. By combining small individual challenges, the initiative illustrated how personal actions can generate meaningful collective impact, reflecting long-held Kuraray Group values.

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TyreSafe has entered a new partnership with Staffordshire Police, reinforcing a joint commitment to improve road safety and reduce fatalities and serious injuries across the county. The collaboration aims to highlight the critical role tyres play in protecting road users by encouraging simple, regular checks of pressure, tread depth and overall condition.

The value of this preventative approach was recently demonstrated during a multi-agency enforcement operation at the DVSA Vehicle Inspection Site in Doxey. Held on 25 August, Operation Doxey involved Staffordshire Police, West Mercia Police, DVSA, Datatag, the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit and TyreSafe. Inspectors directed 30 vehicles into the site, covering leisure vehicles, towing vehicles, light commercial vehicles and goods vehicles.

Seven tyre and wheel-related defects, mechanical risks and pressure discrepancies were identified. These included a tyre cut through to the cord, which received an immediate prohibition notice, a tyre running roughly 30 percent below recommended pressure, an overweight light commercial vehicle with a nail embedded in a tyre and all four tyres underinflated, a significant rear axle pressure imbalance, a missing wheel nut and an 11-year-old tyre. Leisure vehicle owners generally showed good tread awareness, though pressure maintenance remained an issue, while commercial vehicles presented several preventable defects.

Staffordshire has one of UK’s statistically safest road networks, yet serious collisions remain a concern, particularly on single carriageways. Rural bends, changing speed limits and limited visibility add risk, while motorcyclists and vulnerable road users are disproportionately affected. Common factors include failing to look properly, misjudging speed or path and driving too fast or carelessly. TyreSafe now works with over 260 organisations, and this partnership encourages Staffordshire motorists to make tyre checks routine.

Stuart Lovatt, Chairman, TyreSafe, said, “We are delighted to welcome Staffordshire Police as a TyreSafe partner. While Staffordshire has a strong road safety record, every serious collision has potentially devastating consequences for those involved, their families and their communities. The recent Operation Doxey enforcement activity demonstrates exactly why preventative vehicle maintenance matters. Across just 30 vehicles, inspectors identified a number of serious tyre and wheel defects, including a tyre cut to the cord, significantly incorrect tyre pressures, an embedded nail, a missing wheel nut and a tyre that was 11 years old.

“These findings are a powerful reminder that problems are not always obvious from behind the wheel. Simple checks before a journey can help identify issues before they become a danger on the road. Different roads present different challenges, particularly rural and single carriageway roads where the consequences of losing control or being unable to stop safely can be especially severe. Road safety requires a collective effort, and partnerships such as this are incredibly important. By combining the reach and expertise of Staffordshire Police with TyreSafe’s specialist knowledge and campaigns, we can help more road users understand the simple but crucial role their tyres play in keeping themselves and others safe.”

Police Sergeant Adam Van de Sande, Staffordshire Road Crime – Proactive & Harm Reduction Team, said, “Keeping people safe on Staffordshire’s roads requires everyone to play their part. We are committed to working with partners to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our road network. Operation Doxey demonstrated the value of partnership working, with officers, vehicle examiners and road safety specialists able to identify a range of defects and safety issues before those vehicles continued their journeys.

“Vehicle safety is an important part of that responsibility, and tyres are fundamental to a vehicle’s ability to stop, steer and maintain grip. We are pleased to be working with TyreSafe to raise awareness and encourage motorists to make regular tyre checks part of their routine vehicle maintenance. Our message to road users is simple: don’t wait for something to go wrong. Take a few minutes to check your vehicle and make sure it is ready for the road.”

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The AZuR Network has been honoured with the German Award for Sustainability Projects 2026 in the C2C/Recycling category for its ‘Retreading: Climate Protection on Wheels’ project. The recognition highlights the network's efforts to expand tyre retreading across Germany and Europe, thereby extending the useful life of tyres. Retreading works by reusing a suitable used tyre casing and applying a fresh tread, keeping a substantial share of the original tyre in circulation.

A life cycle assessment commissioned by AZuR and carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT compared retreaded tyres with equivalent new ones. Under the conditions examined, producing a retreaded truck tyre generated roughly 135 kilogrammes less greenhouse gas emissions, a reduction exceeding 60 percent. The process also reuses considerable portions of the existing tyre casing, reinforcing its environmental advantages.

The jury underscored the project's scalability and its relevance to the industry. Official documentation further noted the political integration of the topic as a key strength, with the EU taxonomy confirmation in 2025 representing a tangible milestone. The award places AZuR among well-known companies and innovative projects, including a climate protection cooker initiative in Cameroon, a capsule-free coffee system and a mental health awareness campaign.

Knauf secured first place in the same category with its circular gypsum supply chain, while Schmitz Cargobull led the Mobility and Logistics Solutions category. Other first-place winners included DEKRA, Hansgrohe, Pfleiderer Germany and SBRS. Presented by DISQ with ntv and DUP UNTERNEHMER under Brigitte Zypries' patronage, the 2026 edition saw 433 nominations, with 46 organisations recognised across 19 categories on 17 September in Berlin.

Christina Guth, Network Coordinator, AZuR, said, “This award belongs to our entire network. Retreading only works when many stakeholders collaborate along the value chain – from certified end-of-life tyre recyclers, tyre manufacturers and retreaders to retailers and fleet operators, all the way to academia. The award highlights the potential of using high-quality tyres for longer and keeping their casings in circulation.”

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