Tyre company Goodyear and delivery company Gatik – an autonomous vehicle start-up focused on the ‘middle mile’ of logistics – announced they had demonstrated that intelligent tyres powered by Goodyear SightLine technology can accurately estimate tyre-road friction potential and provide real-time information to Gatik’s automated driving system (ADS).

With road-friction data, the companies said tyres can help enable smoother, safer and more sustainable driving. The data is critical information for autonomous vehicles in terms of path planning and providing recommendations for safe driving speed, vehicle acceleration limits and vehicle following distance.

Goodyear SightLine technology is designed to measure the tyre wear state, load, inflation pressure and temperature. It combines that with real-time road-weather data and rubber friction models to estimate the tyre-road friction potential.

Goodyear and Gatik recently deployed road-friction detection capabilities in Canada, pairing the information with other vehicle data and using Goodyear’s cloud-based algorithms to optimise vehicle performance. Estimates from SightLine were successfully able to detect low grip conditions, such as snowy or icy conditions, and make this information available to Gatik’s autonomous fleet, enhancing safety and performance.

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (February 2023)

16 February 2023