No more slipping thanks to aquaplaning alarm
It is a terrifying feeling; you drive straight across a long stretch of highway and suddenly your tires begin to slip – aquaplaning. The Japanese company Sumitomo has now developed a technology that indicates exactly when you are at risk as a motorist.
Aquaplaning is one of the most dangerous and treacherous things that can happen to your car, especially since it can also take place at relatively low speeds. Even if you feel that you have the car under control, a layer of water can get between the road and your vehicle during rain, making the car suddenly uncontrollable.
Rotational speed
The company Sumitomo has found something on this. The company has been selling a system for 20 years that automatically detects when the pressure in car tires decreases. This DWS, or Deflation Warning System, uses simple sensors to measure the rotational speed of a tire. This increases as a tire deflates as the tire becomes smaller. The tires also exhibit vibrations that are noticed by the system.
Vibrations
These vibrations are the key to the new technology that can protect motorists from scary experiences with aquaplaning. The software compares data collected on a rough asphalt road with data from a slippery road. On a smooth road, the speed of rotation of tires increases slightly, depending on the vehicle speed and the vibration frequency also changes. For example, the system can alert the occupants in time for the danger of aquaplaning.
Existing hardware
The system is cheap because the DWS technology uses the existing sensors in cars. The information can also be shared with online navigation systems. In other words, the real-time traffic information in the navigation system or on a smartphone can be significantly upgraded with this technology. When the system is available is not known, but according to Sumitomo we will soon hear more of it.
Source: AD
