Auto-Align - Reducing Air Pollution through Measurement of Wheel Alignment

TITLE: Auto-Align - Reducing Air Pollution Through Continuous Measurement of Vehicle Wheel Alignment. ABSTRACT: This project brings together Aston University, University of Chester, McLaren Applied Technologies and Dynamon, under the lead of RL Capital, to create Auto-Align, a state-of-the-art onboard vehicle wheel alignment measurement system. Vehicle wheel misalignment is the most significant cause of excessive tyre and road wear and a substantial contributor to airborne particulate pollution which has serious consequences for human health and the environment. The World Health Organisation estimates that road transport is responsible for up to 50% of all particulate matter (PM) emissions in OECD countries, and the UK Government’s Air Quality Expert Group estimates that particles from brake wear, tyre wear and road surface wear total over half of these road transport PM emissions. The Auto-Align system will dramatically reduce these dangerous non-exhaust emissions from all types of vehicle tyre, by ensuring that misalignment is detected and can be quickly rectified, resulting in an immediate and long term reduction in the harmful impact of PM emissions on human health and the environment. The Auto-Align system consists of self-calibrating gyroscopic sensors that are easily attached to vehicle wheels, continuously measuring wheel orientation. Data from the sensors will be transmitted to the cloud and analysed using Artificial Intelligence algorithms that determine exact alignment status. Misalignment will be detected as it happens, and the driver and/or fleet operator immediately notified so corrective action can be taken before it negatively affects wear. The Auto-Align system has been designed to be low cost and easy to install on any vehicle – either as a retrofit or at factory stage. The project output also includes a standardised test protocol for real world measurement of tyre wear, by make and pattern. This test will quantify the benefit of Auto-Align and creates a reliable, informed way for vehicle operators and Institutes to measure tyre wear and environmental effects. The Auto-Align system developed by this project is designed to be a high impact solution, for launch in Q4 2021, which, on adoption, could cut the overall annual release of tyre-related particulates by up to 5%, and remove, in the EU alone, up to 25,000 tons of microplastics from the environment. These emissions bypass the body’s defences and reach deep into the respiratory system, increasing the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. The smallest and most dangerous particulates, designated PM2.5, to which road transport emissions significantly contribute, are estimated to have led to 790,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2015. The Auto-Align project will have secondary benefits; reducing exhaust emissions from lower fuel consumption and cutting annual worldwide manufacture of up to 30 million car and 1 million truck tyres, a saving of more than 750 million tons of CO2. The project uses expertise gained by RL Capital in the CAV1 InnovateUK funded, and successfully commercialised, TyreWatch remote tyre pressure monitoring and fault detection system.