Measurement of a tyre's inner liner point dynamics with pose estimation

The objective of this study was to design a measurement system device for investigating the dynamics of a rolling tire under controlled conditions by estimating the 3D motion of a rigid target mounted on the tire's inner liner. Tire dynamics is a critical and rapidly advancing area in the automotive industry. To address this challenge, the project aimed to develop a system that utilizes a compact action camera connected to the rim to accurately measure the behavior of the tire's inner liner with minimal uncertainty. The adopted measuring technique is pose estimation, which allows for estimating the displacement and rotation of a rigid target using single-camera images. To validate the proposed method, experiments were conducted on a flat track machine at the Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. testing facility. This specialized equipment simulates tire-road interactions, providing a controlled setting where each test condition is associated with well-defined, constant parameters. This setup allowed careful validation and reliable performance comparisons across various test scenarios.