Goodyear and Gatik: Advancing Autonomous Vehicles With Intelligent Tyres

As a result of a partnership between Goodyear and Gatik, intelligent tyres will be installed on a fleet of autonomous delivery trucks in the U.S. and Canada. The goal is to increase safety and efficiency with Goodyear’s Endurance RSA tyres and SightLine technology. 

Hence, the tyre health and road condition data will be collected, helping the logistics company to improve its autonomous vehicle controllers. Furthermore, the technology also enables various performance enhancements, such as quick adaptability and safety with different payloads. As said by Goodyear, the expansion of the industry’s “first successful integration of tyre intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system” could also boost the reliability of deliveries.

Goodyear’s chief technology officer, Chris Helsel, said that “Being the vehicle’s only contact point to the road, the tyre can play a pivotal role in enabling the vehicle to react like a driver would,”, adding that “Gatik is revolutionising the autonomous technology space, and by providing real-time insights through intelligent tyre data, we can support Gatik’s autonomous driving system to become even more safe, reliable and efficient.”

The ongoing testing at Goodyear’s San Angelo, Texas proving grounds includes common and uncommon road scenarios such as different turns, manoeuvers, collision avoidance, lane keeping, etc. The intelligence data will include rolling resistance, tire load, and braking.

Gatik CEO, Gautam Narang, said that “The real-time data derived from intelligent tyre technology not only enhances the safety and predictability of our autonomous vehicles, but also enables us to maintain high levels of efficiency, reliability and delivery uptime throughout our operations,”

Both companies also have plans for incorporating Goodyear’s predictive road condition monitoring solution in the autonomous driving system of the logistics company. This will ensure a consistent and reliable movement of goods for Gatik’s customers and will increase the accuracy and efficiency of its fleet operations.

Image source by Goodyear and Gatik