The TPMS for open wheel race cars consists of:

• The wheel sensor which is mounted onto the back of a custom valve, and is mounted in each wheel. The wheel sensor measures the tyre pressure and air temperature and transmits this wirelessly, along with the sensor’s serial number, remaining battery life and other diagnostic data. The wheel sensor is a compact unit, which fits easily to most standard rims, and has no antenna protruding up which can easily get caught during tyre mounting.
• Antennas mounted on the car to receive the wireless transmissions from the wheel sensors. Depending on the type of car, between one and four antennas are generally needed. The antennas are digital units, meaning only three standard wires (no special cabling) are required to connect each antenna to the ECU.
• An Electronic Control Unit (ECU) mounted in the car, which collects data from all the antennas on the vehicle, processes it and then transmits the required data on a high speed CAN bus, to the logger and car’s display. The ECU is configured by the user with their pre-defined pressure and temperature limits, and if the pressures or temperatures of any of the wheels on the car drop outside of these limits, warnings are activated on the CAN bus, which can then alert the driver to a possible problem. A Combined ECU/Antenna is also available which can either be centrally mounted on the car to receive datagrams from all wheel sensors, or also have an external antenna connected for use on larger cars.
• Diagnostic tools such as the Mini Analyser and Garage Monitoring System which allow you to monitor the status of your wheels when they are not fitted to the car.

With a range of wheel sensors, ECUs and Antennas to suit every application, all formulae and budgets can be catered for.

Typically systems operate in a “positioned” manner, with wheel sensor IDs being assigned to positions on the car. Up to 100 wheel sensor IDs can be assigned to each corner of the car, and when the car starts moving it automatically detects which of the wheels are fitted to the car and locks onto these. When the car enters the pits the next time, the system releases that set of wheels and then looks for the next set.