Goodyear and SafeAI enter intelligent tyre partnership

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and SafeAI have entered into 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 will exchange site data in a move designed to “protect tyre health, eliminate downtime and contribute to a smarter, safer standard for the construction industry”. Specifically, tyre intelligence from Goodyear’s TPMS Heavy Duty rim-mounted sensors will be deployed at an active construction site in Cupertino, California.

As a result of the collaboration, Goodyear will outfit a Caterpillar 725, 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.

According to Goodyear, traditional construction and mining sites are rife with inefficiencies, fuelled in large part by costly unplanned downtime rates as high as 20-30 pe cent, resulting in missed timelines and increased budget – and COVID-19 is exacerbating these challenges.

“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.”

“Goodyear has been at the forefront of tyre innovation for more than 100 years. Today, we’re proud to join forces to take on a new frontier: tire intelligence for autonomous heavy equipment,” said Bibrajit Halder, founder & CEO at SafeAI. “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.”

SafeAI is an autonomous heavy equipment leader focused on advancing modern industry. SafeAI retrofits heavy equipment for autonomous applications in mining and construction to serve a massive ecosystem of industry players with complex needs. By building a software platform with the most advanced, industry-specific AI, SafeAI works to enable equipment owners to transform existing machines into self-operating robotic assets. Obayashi Corp. and Foundamental have made strategic investments in SafeAI.