Goodyear targets AI for autonomous heavy equipment

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and SafeAI are together incorporating tire intelligence into the programming of autonomous heavy equipment vehicles.

According to Goodyear, the companies will exchange site data through an integration with the SafeAI autonomous ecosystem to protect tire health, eliminate downtime and contribute to a smarter, safer standard for the construction industry. Tire intelligence from Goodyear’s TPMS Heavy Duty rim-mounted sensors will be deployed at an active construction site in Cupertino, California.

Through the collaboration, Goodyear will outfit a Caterpillar 725, retrofitted with SafeAI’s autonomous software, to capture pressure and temperature data and monitor overall tire health. These sensors can identify and communicate adverse conditions before they cause maintenance issues and derail a project, Goodyear says.

Goodyear says traditional construction and mining sites are rife with inefficiencies, fueled in large part by costly unplanned downtime rates as high as 20 to 30 percent. This, the company says, results in missed timelines and increased budgets.

Tire intelligence can help mitigate these challenges by identifying early or potential problems, such as underinflation, before they cause unexpected delays – bolstering efficiency, safety and return on investment, Goodyear adds.

“No matter the vehicle – automobile, freight truck or dump truck – tire intelligence can help elevate safety, performance and efficiency,” says Chris Helsel, Goodyear senior vice president and chief technology officer. “Through our work with SafeAI, we will not only empower site operators with greater visibility and efficiency, but also gain invaluable performance data to inform our future innovation in autonomy and heavy equipment.”

Adds Bibrajit Halder, founder and CEO at SafeAI: “We’re proud to join forces to take on a new frontier: tire intelligence for autonomous heavy equipment. At SafeAI, we strongly believe in a collaborative approach to deploying autonomy in construction and mining, at scale. We have purpose-built an interoperable autonomous technology that enables us to work with industry leaders like Goodyear and set the standard for autonomous heavy equipment.”