Car and truck drivers who spend long hours on the road know better than most about the importance of maintaining proper tire pressure; it actually saves lives. With an entire industry having quickly developed around the technology, the race to innovate is now on.
China-based Steelmate Co. sees itself at the forefront of the tire pressure management system (TPMS) arena, where its proprietary aftermarket technology is turning heads. The 23-year-old company offers a range of electronic systems that enhance safety for passenger, commercial, and off-road vehicles, as well as trailers and motorcycles.
Modern factory-mounted TPMS gear features a small electronic assembly which is mounted inside the tire and measures pressure and other information to an on-board receiver connected to a dash panel display or via app to a smartphone.
External systems often attach to the nipple of the wheel rim, where data is sent electromagnetically via radio-frequency identification (RFID) to a meter mounted within the driver's view.
Steelmate's patented TPMS for motorcycles are particularly noteworthy; its do-it-yourself TP-90 sensor employs a German Infineon chip, weighs only 9.6 grams with battery, and requires no tire rebalancing after installation. A acorn-sized display screen can be mounted anywhere, shows front and lead tire temperature and pressure, and also warns when either is too high or too low, or when a battery or sensor has failed.
"Car and motorcycle ownership in China has increased so much in recent years that traffic accidents are very common, increasing the need for safety systems," she said.
How unsafe is unsafe? Vehicle-related fatalities totaled over 261,000 in China in 2013, about 83% of all such deaths in southeast Asia that year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the U.S., a recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that tires underinflated up to 25% run the risk of overheating, leading to failure, and at the very least adversely affecting handling, tread life, and fuel efficiency.
TPMS is the latest product to join Steelmate's suite of vehicle safety products, a lineup that includes alarms and security systems, tracking systems, wireless engine locks, parking assistance cameras and solar powered display modules.
The company's gadgets are noted for their designs, having garnered a slew of awards and plaudits from Automechanika (2010, 2012), SEMA (2013), Canton Fair (2014), and Red Dot (2016). The TP-90 system garnered an innovation award from CES earlier this year. It retails for under $100 at Amazon.com.
TPMS has become big global business since studies proved that properly inflated pneumatic tires can dramatically affect passenger safety. First tried in Europe in the 1980s, the industry received a huge boost from U.S. congressional action in response to Firestone tire recalls in the late 1990s linked to more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread separation.
The TREAD Act mandates the use of a suitable TPMS technology in all light motor vehicles under 10,000 pounds, and affects all such vehicles sold from September, 2007.
Japan, Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia and Turkey have since also made TPMS mandatory.
