Goodyear advances smart tire technology with ‘friction’ detection

Akron, Ohio – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has advanced an intelligent tire technology to estimate tire-road friction and convey data in real-time to autonomous vehicles.

In a statement 4 Jan, the US tire maker said it worked with self-driving truck company Gatik on a proof-of-concept tire powered by Goodyear’s sensor technology Sightline.

The companies recently deployed the road-friction detection technology in Canada, where the system continuously measured tire sensor-derived information.

The data was then paired with other vehicle data and connected to Goodyear's cloud-based algorithms to optimise vehicle performance.

According to Goodyear, the friction estimates enabled vehicles to detect low-grip conditions, such as snowy or icy environments.

Furthermore, the technology made it possible to transfer the information to Gatik’s autonomous fleet, enhancing safety and performance for the company’s commercial operations.

The technology is also claimed to help enable “smoother, safer and more sustainable driving.”

“This 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,” stated Goodyear.