Cars become an extension of the body when humans drive; we can feel the lack of grip of our car tires when driving on icy or wet roads. Autonomous vehicles don’t have quite the same sensory capabilities, which is one of the reasons most AV testing and deployment takes place in sunny climates.

Gatik, a Canadian self-driving truck company, believes that tire-sensing data could be the key to bringing self-driving technology to winter roads. The company is working with iconic tire maker Goodyear to prove that smart tires can accurately estimate tire-road friction and provide real-time feedback to Gatik’s automated driving system.

“The tire is the only part of the vehicle that touches the ground, and this new level of data sophistication can transmit vital information to the vehicle, increasing safety and performance,” said Chris Helsel, senior vice president of operations. companies and director of Goodyear. technology, in a press release. “This is yet another step in the evolution of the tire to not only do its traditional job, but also to be a conduit for new data and information.”

The companies shared at CES 2023 that they recently rolled out Goodyear’s road friction detection technology, called SightLine, in Canada. The deployment involved continuously measuring information derived from tire sensors – such as wear status, load, inflation pressure and temperature – against other vehicle data and weather data in time. real. All of this information was then connected to Goodyear’s proprietary cloud algorithms to arrive at a friction estimate. Goodyear said throughout the test that these friction estimates successfully detected low-grip conditions such as snowy or icy conditions.

The idea is that friction estimates will be fed back to Gatik’s autonomous fleet to help with trajectory planning and provide recommendations for safe driving speed, vehicle acceleration limits and vehicle following distance, according to Goodyear.

Of course, SightLine’s potential doesn’t end with better detection of snowy roads or even autonomous driving. Goodyear said it hopes to deploy the technology in “select original equipment vehicles” in 2024. The tire technology can also provide tire health information and gather information about road conditions such as potholes.

In 2021, Goodyear Ventures and Porsche Ventures strategically invested in Tactile Mobility, an Israeli startup that said its technology could measure grip estimation and tire health. It’s unclear whether Goodyear worked with Tactile Mobility to develop the SightLine, and the company didn’t respond in time to TechCrunch’s inquiries.

Cars become an extension of the body when humans drive; we can feel the lack of grip of our car tires when driving on icy or wet roads. Autonomous vehicles don’t have quite the same sensory capabilities, which is one of the reasons most AV testing and deployment takes place in sunny climates.

Gatik, a Canadian self-driving truck company, believes that tire-sensing data could be the key to bringing self-driving technology to winter roads. The company is working with iconic tire maker Goodyear to prove that smart tires can accurately estimate tire-road friction and provide real-time feedback to Gatik’s automated driving system.

“The tire is the only part of the vehicle that touches the ground, and this new level of data sophistication can transmit vital information to the vehicle, increasing safety and performance,” said Chris Helsel, senior vice president of operations. companies and director of Goodyear. technology, in a press release. “This is yet another step in the evolution of the tire to not only do its traditional job, but also to be a conduit for new data and information.”

The companies shared at CES 2023 that they recently rolled out Goodyear’s road friction detection technology, called SightLine, in Canada. The deployment involved continuously measuring information derived from tire sensors – such as wear status, load, inflation pressure and temperature – against other vehicle data and weather data in time. real. All of this information was then connected to Goodyear’s proprietary cloud algorithms to arrive at a friction estimate. Goodyear said throughout the test that these friction estimates successfully detected low-grip conditions such as snowy or icy conditions.

The idea is that friction estimates will be fed back to Gatik’s autonomous fleet to help with trajectory planning and provide recommendations for safe driving speed, vehicle acceleration limits and vehicle following distance, according to Goodyear.

Of course, SightLine’s potential doesn’t end with better detection of snowy roads or even autonomous driving. Goodyear said it hopes to deploy the technology in “select original equipment vehicles” in 2024. The tire technology can also provide tire health information and gather information about road conditions such as potholes.

In 2021, Goodyear Ventures and Porsche Ventures strategically invested in Tactile Mobility, an Israeli startup that said its technology could measure tire grip and health. It’s unclear whether Goodyear worked with Tactile Mobility to develop the SightLine, and the company didn’t respond in time to TechCrunch’s inquiries.