The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and SafeAI, a technology provider for autonomous heavy equipment, have announced a strategic relationship to incorporate tyre intelligence into the programming of autonomous heavy equipment vehicles.
Through an integration with the SafeAI autonomous ecosystem, the companies say they will exchange site data to protect tyre health, eliminate downtime and contribute to a smarter, safer standard for the construction industry. Tyre 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 articulated dump truuck, retrofitted with SafeAI’s autonomous software, to capture pressure and temperature data and monitor overall tyre health. These sensors can identify and communicate adverse conditions before they cause maintenance issues and derail a project. Cat 725 vehicles are used by quarry operators, as well as on construction and mine sites.
Goodyear says that traditional construction and extraction sites are rife with inefficiencies, fuelled in large part by costly unplanned downtime rates as high as 20-30%, resulting in missed timelines and increased budget – and COVID-19 is exacerbating these challenges. It adds that tyre 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.
“No matter the vehicle – automobile, freight truck or dump truck – tyre intelligence can help elevate safety, performance and efficiency,” said 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.”
Bibrajit Halder, founder & CEO at SafeAI, added: “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.”
