Silent Sensors has been awarded an Innovate UK Smart Grant with a grant amount of £130,103 for the INTENSE – INdustrial Tyre sENsor with embedded SEnsing project (INTENSE). The INTENSE project aligns with ‘Future of mobility’, one of the Grand Challenges of the UK’s Industrial Strategy.

This project will run for twelve months from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024. We are very happy with our 85% application score and being one of fewer than 5% of companies who applied to have been won their grant in this Smart Grant round of funding.

INTENSE will deliver an innovative tyre sensor for large OTR (off-the-road) tyres. Large OTR vehicles operate over rough terrain with high loads and the tyres’ motion generates high temperatures deep within the core rubber of the tyres and large temperature variations within the tyre. Manufacturers install in-tyre temperature sensors, but these only measure air or tyre liner temperatures which do not reflect core rubber temperatures. Overheating may result in only achieving 65% of maximum tyre life.

INTENSE is novel because it splits temperature sensing and communications elements and is able to measure temperature deep inside the tyre.  Knowing the internal temperature allows for behaviour changes to extend tyre life and in addition to cost benefits, achieves environmental benefits in reducing replacement tyre production.

Silent Sensors’ entire business is focussed on creating advanced technology for monitoring the location, status and performance of commercial tyres and the financial and environmental benefits of doing this.  INTENSE will help us create a new market for embedded tyre sensors which can provide better quality as well as additional tyre-related data. Existing TPMS devices only provide pressure and an indication of temperature, INTENSE will provide accurate data and data such as driving style and tyre stresses and will therefore substitute for existing TPMS systems.