ROAD SURFACE FRICTION AND SURFACE TYPE ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

A tire-based system and method for estimating road surface friction is disclosed. The system comprises at least one tire (12) mounted to a wheel hub and supporting a vehicle (14); model-based longitudinal stiffness estimating means for producing a model-based longitudinal stiffness estimation (46) for the at least one tire (12) from tire-based inputs and vehicle-based inputs; actual longitudinal stiffness estimating means for producing an actual longitudinal stiffness estimation (36) from vehicle-based inputs; and tire road friction estimating means for deriving a road friction estimation (22) from a comparative analysis between the actual longitudinal stiffness estimation (36) and the model-based longitudinal stiffness estimation (46).