POLYN Technology, a leader in neuromorphic technology with application-specific Neuromorphic Analog Signal Processing (NASP) products, has taped out a VibroSense™ engineering chip featuring an analog neuromorphic core for tyre friction monitoring.
This is POLYN’s first chip, developed in cooperation with GlobalFoundries, using more advanced nodes for this and the next generation of products.
The milestone accelerates the adoption of intelligent, physics-aware sensing technologies for next-generation ADAS and autonomous driving platforms.
Following extensive real-world validation and data-driven development, POLYN’s advanced solution for tyre-road friction estimation leverages neural networks to process high-frequency sensor data. The system is trained on diverse driving conditions to estimate the peak friction coefficient (PFC) in real time, enabling predictive insight into road grip before critical events such as braking occur.
Validation through controlled braking scenarios, along with correlation with industry benchmarks, demonstrates strong alignment with real-world friction behaviour across standard surfaces, including asphalt, concrete, and aquaplaning conditions. The solution is engineered to maintain reliable performance under complex and non-ideal driving conditions, such as wet roads or uneven terrain, providing stable estimates with confidence-aware outputs.
VibroSense Tyre Monitoring Solution is designed to operate in conjunction with a TPMS SoC, using accelerometer vibration signals to monitor tyre-road grip.
“There is strong and growing interest in sensor data pre-processing implemented in silicon for automotive applications,” said Aleksandr Timofeev, CEO of POLYN. “This tape out marks an important milestone in NASP chip development and furthers our mission to unlock new opportunities for advanced vehicle systems with VibroSense, an energy-efficient neuromorphic sensing solution.”
POLYN’s advanced neural network compiler and customised EDA flow generate the neural core layout for the VibroSense chip, incorporating thousands of neuron’s, weight matrices, and interconnections. NASP technology utilises analog neuron’s for signal processing in a truly asynchronous mode, resulting in extremely low power consumption and low inference latency. This enables deployment of the VibroSense chip within the tyre, making it an industry-first practical solution for direct road sensing.
Timofeev added that POLYN is actively collaborating with Tier 1 suppliers and automotive OEMs seeking to obtain real-time tyre-road friction estimates directly from the tyre. Indirect calculations and virtual sensors cannot provide the required accuracy under rapidly changing road conditions, particularly in autonomous driving scenarios.
