Loose Wheel Indicator

No more surprises. Or sensors.

Loose wheels on vehicles is a common problem across the globe, leading to injuries, material damage and even casualties. A loose wheel can exceed speeds of 100 km/h, and bounce dozens of meters in the air, causing accidents not only to the unfortunate car in question but also to other motorists or bystanders.

Many lost wheels are caused by basic issues such as using the wrong bolts or nuts, over or under-torque, omitted retorquing, or dirt and corrosion. Basic issues, that have led to thousands of accidents each year. To think, these accidents could have been avoided – if only the driver knew the wheels were loose.

Fortunately, from now on there’s a perfect solution for that: Loose Wheel Indicator (LWI) by NIRA. With it, the driver isalerted to any loose wheel – well before it risks falling off – making it possible to avoid ending up in a dangerous situation.

As LWI is a software solution, combining the car’s existing sensors in a new, high-performance system, it requires no additional sensors whatsoever. Instead, it determines if a wheel – and which wheel – is loose only from the spectrum content of the wheel speed signals. This of course makes it very cost-efficient. Moreover, the system is robust against surface changes, load variations and different driving styles.

With increased car sharing, and autonomous vehicles around the corner, smarter vehicle diagnostics is quickly becoming a necessity.

With the successful Tire Pressure Indicator we covered tire under inflation, the most common wheel problem of all. With Loose Wheel Indicator, we’re addressing yet another common and serious wheel problem, making driving even safer.

Energy levels of the wheel speed signals. Green line corresponds to a loose wheel, and has a clearly higher energy level.

By recording the signals from the wheel speed sensors, a loose wheel is detected by an increased vibration level.

Loose Wheel Indicator – in less than a minute

A high-performance software solution, Loose Wheel Indicator detects if a wheel is loose by analyzing the wheel speed signals – greatly increasing safety. Here’s how it works.