Heavy Duty Trucking, February 2018
This is about safety and maximum vehicle efficiency Were not just talking about a light on the dashboard Future opportunities and challenges Other suppliers are working on their own wheel end sensor systems ConMet for example showcased its SmartHub intelligent wheel end at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta last fall Beto Dantas vice president of innovation strategy and marketing for ConMet says it will offer real time data on important hub functions to help improve safety and maintenance The SmartHub contains embedded sensors that will measure and transmit data on wheel end health indicators including hub temperature lubricant level hub vibration speed miles traveled spindle nut torque readings hub load and bolt tension Dantos says information such as this will become even more important as other technologies take root in trucking SmartHub is being developed with the purpose of providing better prognostic capabilities around the health of the wheel end he says And as market trends like autonomous vehicles and commercial vehicle platooning continue to grow this self monitoring predictive technology will be critical to the safety of the wheel end Wolf thinks that over time the sensors currently monitoring and transmitting wheel end data will eventually migrate into the truck wheel itself We think the wheel is a more logical place for these sensors to reside he notes adding that Maxion is currently working with both truck OEMs and tire manufacturers on different technology paths Wheels have a longer field life than tires which suffer failures or wear out and have to be replaced Whereas wheels often last for years without requiring any major maintenance or replacement Still he notes the challenges are daunting including an operating environment that swings from very hot to very cold temperatures exposure to salt water and other corrosive materials as well as ultraviolet radiation Then there are technical limitations to contend with such as the power requirements needed to broadcast data along a 53 foot vehicle as well as the different electronic transfer protocols each truck OEM uses today Looking even farther into the future Wolf foresees a time when wheel end sensors will simply broadcast vehicle weight directly to weigh stations The technology is mature and the benefits are real he adds Its a matter now of perfecting and integrating the sensors providing the information the OEMs want and getting costs down to an affordable price point FEBRUARY 2018 HDT 73 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM This is about safety and maximum vehicle efficiency Were not just talking about a light on the dashboard Joe Wolf Maxion
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