TIRE WEAR ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

A tire wear state estimation system and method is disclosed. In one aspect of the invention, system comprises at least one tire (30) for supporting a vehicle and an at least tri-axial sensor (328) mounted to the tire (30), the tri-axial sensor (328) and the system being configured for measuring tire inflation pressure and generating tire inflation pressure data, measuring a tire vertical mode frequency and generating tire vertical mode frequency data, generating tire-specific frequency mode coefficients using tire-specific identification data, and calculating an estimation of a tire wear state based upon the tire inflation pressure data, the vertical mode frequency data, and the tire-specific frequency mode coefficients. Also, an assembly for determining operating parameters of a tire is disclosed. The assembly comprises a tire (30) and a tripod sensor (328) mounted within an inner cavity of the tire underneath a crown portion (16) of the tire (30) and an innerliner (315) on which the tripod sensor (328) is mounted, the tripod sensor (328) including a tri-axial sensor.