New Goodyear partnerships target intelligent tire, mobility advances

Akron, Ohio – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has announced a series of collaborations with various partners around the introduction of intelligent tires for automotive ecosystems.

To be unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), 9-12 Jan in Las Vegas, the link-ups include one with German automotive supplier ZF for the integration of 'tire intelligence' technologies with vehicle motion control software.

According to the Akron tire maker, the collaboration embeds Goodyear’s SightLine smart tire technologies, into the ZF cubiX ecosystem.

SightLine is designed to allow early detection of hydroplaning hazards and offer recommendations for optimal speed to enhance vehicle control.

ZF CubiX, meanwhile, is a "scalable vehicle motion control software that coordinates all dimensions of vehicle dynamics," explained Goodyear's 9 Jan release.

Integration of the two systems provides tire and road data into the chassis system that improves driving experience with “better comfort, control and efficiency.”

Next-gen tires

In a separate but related announcement, Goodyear said it is collaborating with software and sensors specialist TDK Corp. to develop “next-generation tire solutions.”

This partners aims to accelerate the development and adoption of integrated intelligent hardware and software into tires and vehicle ecosystems.

Their target is “a robust tire sensing system”, combining TDK’s software, sensor and electronic component expertise with Goodyear’s know-how in tire development, intelligent solutions and industry trends.

To further advance its intelligent tire technology, Goodyear is also expanding an existing partnership with self-driving truck company Gatik AI.

The two companies previously advanced a proof-of-concept tire powered by Goodyear’s sensor technology Sightline. (ERJ report)

As part of that project, Gatik equipped some of its autonomous vehicles with Goodyear Endurance RSA tires, featuring SightLine technology.

The project, said Goodyear, enabled Gatik to advance the safety and overall accuracy of its fleet operations, while improving delivery uptime and reliability.

The joint partnership provided “extensive” on-road testing in “a wide variety of challenging real-world driving scenarios” for Gatik to advance its AV controllers using tire data.

The real-time data on cornering and braking stiffness, rolling resistance and tire load helped Gatik to yield “numerous performance enhancements”, said Goodyear.

Among other enhancements, Gatik was able to “adapt swiftly and safely to a variety of road conditions, even when the mass or payload of the truck varies by delivery.”

This year, Gatik plans to implement the intelligent tire solution into “a significant portion” of its autonomous fleet across the US and Canada, Goodyear added.

The companies have also partnered to conduct ongoing, “rigorous testing” at Goodyear’s San Angelo, Texas, proving grounds.

The two companies further aim to incorporate Goodyear's predictive road-condition monitoring system into Gatik’s autonomous driving system.