The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Gatik, a developer of autonomous middle mile B2B logistics, are expanding their integration of tire intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system, the two companies announced Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Gatik's autonomous fleet is comprised of Class 3–7 box trucks. Gatik expects to equip a number of its U.S. and Canada-based trucks this year with Goodyear Endurance RSA tires with Goodyear SightLine technology, the company's comprehensive tire intelligence solution.
[Related: Gatik, Cummins announce partnership on autonomous middle-mile]
"Being the vehicle's only contact point to the road, the tire can play a pivotal role in enabling the vehicle to react like a driver would," said Chris Helsel, Goodyear's senior vice president of Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer. "Gatik is revolutionizing the autonomous technology space, and by providing real-time insights through intelligent tire data, we can support Gatik's autonomous driving system to become even more safe, reliable and efficient."
Through extensive on-road testing in a wide variety of challenging real-world driving scenarios, tire intelligence data regarding road conditions and tire health have helped Gatik advance its AV controllers with insights about accurate cornering and braking stiffness, rolling resistance and tire load. This data, which is communicated between Goodyear SightLine technology and Gatik's autonomous driving system through a real-time feedback loop, has enabled Gatik to yield numerous performance enhancements, including the ability to adapt swiftly and safely to a variety of road conditions, even when the mass or payload of the truck varies by delivery.
Gatik CEO and Co-founder Gautam Narang said the real-time data derived from intelligent tire technology not only enhances the safety and predictability of our autonomous vehicles, but also enables his company to maintain high levels of efficiency, reliability and delivery uptime throughout our operations.
The companies have partnered to conduct ongoing, rigorous testing at Goodyear's San Angelo, Texas, Proving Grounds. Goodyear and Gatik have future plans to incorporate Goodyear's advanced predictive road condition monitoring solution into Gatik's autonomous driving system. This integration will enable Gatik to strategically plan its operations, ensuring a consistent and reliable movement of goods for Gatik's diverse customer base, encompassing the nation's largest grocers, retailers, distributors, e-commerce platforms and CPG companies.
