The following article presents some valuable information on how pressure sensors work. Some critical applications of the pressure sensors are also mentioned as you read along. These devices have many applications, especially in industrial settings, although they are helpful in monitoring automobile tire pressure.
The most common design for them, like the Keller pressure sensor, uses piezoresistive materials. These materials have an unusual property that their strength varies according to the forces or pressures.
These materials form a crucial component of pressure sensors, the sensing diaphragm. The sensing diaphragm is designed so that its movement depends on how much pressure is applied to it.
Nonetheless, it is also common for people to ask how pressure sensors work since they realize they are part of a system that constantly monitors your car’s tire pressure as well.
If you wish to know how pressure sensors work, interested in the tire pressure sensor mechanism, it is a type of technology designed for safety. It sends a warning to the driver in case of low tire pressure.
Governments have mandated tire pressure monitoring systems all over the world. It was mandated in the European Union in 2014, including the United Kingdom. There are two types of type pressure management systems, and they are direct and indirect systems.
Direct tire pressure monitoring system is equipped with pressure transducers for each tire to check tire pressure continuously. However, an indirect tire pressure monitoring system calculates the air pressure in a tire by measuring other variables, including tire revolutions per minute.
They can be of different types and include differential, air, gauge, piezoresistive, vacuum, digital, and absolute pressure sensors. However, one of the more common designs uses a piezoelectric material, which means the current is directly proportional to the applied pressure. The commonly used material is semiconductor silicon. Many thin wafers of silicon are sandwiched between protective materials.
So how do pressure sensors work when specifically installed to ensure the car tire pressure is within the acceptable range? The direct tire pressure monitoring system has two main components: a radio transmitter that sends the collated information to the vehicle’s computer and a pressure sensor on the side of the tire rim.
Radio transmission is done through a car antenna, which detects the signals and then transmits them to the central monitoring system. However, for the indirect type of tire pressure monitoring system, no pressure transducers are required.
The amount of pressure in a tire is measured by determining the diameter of the tire. Consecutively, the diameter of the tires is calculated using the rotational speed as input. If the onboard computer detects a slightly faster rotational speed for one of the tires, it warns the driver that the air pressure in that particular tire is low due to its small diameter.
