US 12,227,039 B2
System and method for monitoring vehicle tires
Joseph Whinnery, Soquel, CA (US)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Aug. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/878,561.
Prior Publication US 2024/0034109 A1, Feb. 1, 2024
Int. Cl. B60C 23/06 (2006.01); B60C 23/04 (2006.01)
CPC B60C 23/064 (2013.01) [B60C 23/0401 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous vehicle (AV) system comprising:
a sensor configured to:
receive light reflected off of at least one object within a field of view (FOV) adjacent to a vehicle as reflected light, and
provide tire data indicative of a distance between the sensor and a surface of a tire of the vehicle extending into the FOV based on the reflected light; and
a controller configured to:
generate a message in response to a moment of a probability distribution of the tire data being less than a threshold, or tire data indicative of a rate of change of shadow length exceeding a threshold shadow length, and
provide the message to at least one of a user interface, a vehicle system, and an external computing device.