Gatik, Goodyear roll on with autonomous trucking tire technology
LAS VEGAS — Tires are the only part of an autonomous truck that touch the road. So it helps when those tires are smart enough to send road information to the driverless vehicle.
Middle-mile autonomous trucking leader Gatik has been working with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on tire technology for several years. Now the two are equipping Gatik’s fleet’s with Goodyear Endurance RSA tires with Goodyear SightLine technology.
“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,” Chris Helsel, Goodyear senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer, said in a news release.
“Gatik is revolutionizing the autonomous technology space. 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.”
Sightline technology rolling out on significant portion on Gatik vehicles
Mountain View, California-based Gatik plans to implement SightLine on a significant portion of its autonomous fleet of Class 3-7 box trucks across the U.S. and Canada this year.
Extensive on-road testing in a variety of real-world driving scenarios at Goodyear’s San Angelo, Texas, Proving Grounds have helped Gatik advance its autonomous vehicle controllers. Insights include accurate cornering and braking stiffness, rolling resistance and tire load.
A real-time feedback loop enables Gatik to adapt to a variety of road conditions. That includes when the mass or payload of the truck varies by delivery.
“The data derived from intelligent tire technology not only enhances the safety and predictability of our autonomous vehicles. [It] also enables us to maintain high levels of efficiency, reliability and delivery uptime throughout our operations,” said Gautam Narang, Gatik CEO and co-founder.
Goodyear and Gatik plan to integrate Goodyear’s advanced predictive road condition monitoring solution into Gatik’s autonomous driving system. That will enable strategic planning of its operations for customers that include Tyson Foods, Kroger and Canada’s Loblaws supermarket chain.
Separately, Goodyear said Tuesday it has achieved successful integration of tire intelligence technologies with vehicle motion control software in collaboration with vehicle systems and industrial technology supplier ZF.
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Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.
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