Thesis Work: Wheel Imbalance Detection

About this opportunity - Background

At Vehicle Engineering, our responsibility spans the entire chassis, interior, climate, body & exterior functions, mechanical Integration, and a range of vehicle attributes with impact on design and customer experience of our complete product. Across these domains and all development cycles, we will lead an effective delivery operation on a complete level in close sync with other Engineering units, functions, and stakeholders across the company.

This thesis is within the area of Suspension Functions and SW Integration.

As vehicle technology advances, more sophisticated and refined vehicle diagnostics methods are introduced, providing a thorough view of the overall vehicle system’s performance. This thesis focuses on wheel imbalance detection and eventual countermeasures that the available control systems can take to mitigate its severity.

Wheel imbalance can occur if the weight of the wheel, mainly the tire and rim assembly, is not evenly distributed around it. It can manifest as vibrations at the steering wheel, uneven steering response, and tire wear. This thesis focuses on detecting unbalanced wheels and even proposing methods for adapting the control of suspension and steering systems to mitigate those effects.

Scope of the thesis work

Objectives
1.    Evaluate the capability of wheel imbalance detection using sensors available on a modern vehicle.
2.    Develop algorithms for the detection and classification of the level of imbalance.
3.    Evaluate the capability of an active/semi-active suspension system to mitigate the effects of the detected imbalance and propose a respective algorithm.

Research Questions
•    Can wheel imbalance be detected with the use of available sensors, e.g., suspension height sensors, accelerometers, steering wheel sensor, wheel speed sensor etc.?
•    What are the limitations in terms of sensor placement, resolution, and delays?
•    How does the estimation accuracy compare to that of dedicated motion sensors?
•    How to cancel wheel imbalance, including balancing versus harshness added to sprung mass.

Methodology
1.    Sensor Data Acquisition
Collect data from vehicles with balanced and unbalanced wheels.
2.    Signal Processing
Perform any necessary signal processing on the acquired data.
3.    Wheel imbalance detection
Implement sensor processing algorithms or pattern recognition algorithms to detect imbalances.
4.    Verification
Apply the algorithm to vehicles with unbalanced wheels and assess its performance.

Expected Outcomes
•    A method/algorithm that can be used to identify wheel imbalances and respective confidence.
•    A control algorithm that can be used to mitigate the severity of the imbalances.
 

Tools & Resources
•    MATLAB/Simulink for data analysis and algorithm development.
•    IPG CarMaker for simulation of vehicle driving scenarios.
•    Test car utilization for complete level algorithm evaluation.

What you'll bring

The eligible candidates must have competence in:
•    Signal processing
•    Control systems
•    Matlab/Simulink or C/C++
•    Vehicle Dynamics

Possessing a driving license B, valid in Sweden, and previous experience with vehicle simulation software (IPG CarMaker, VI CarRealTime) is strongly meritorious.

Duration

•    Tentative proposed thesis work period: 19th January 2026 to 26th of June 2026 (dates can be flexible with +/- 7 days)
•    Academic credits: equivalent to 30 ECTS 
•    Number of students: 1-2 students (2 students preferred)