Goodyear presents spherical Eagle 360 Urban tires with artificial intelligence

Goodyear presents its vision for the future development of smart tires with network integration capabilities. For future ecosystems seeking unmanned vehicle management in an urban environment, Goodyear is preparing a revolutionary breakthrough, creating tires that interact with the car, other vehicles and the road environment. In light of this, Goodyear introduced its new development - concept tires Eagle 360 ​​Urban. These are spheres with a relief coating made on a 3-D printer, the first conceptual Goodyear tires with artificial intelligence, capable of reading information, making decisions, transforming and interacting with each other.

Due to the dynamic change in the shape of the Eagle 360 ​​tread, Urban is capable of transformation and adapts to changes in road and weather conditions. In addition, the concept bus can interact with other nodes integrated into the network, share accumulated information about the actions performed and the results obtained. In this case, data exchange is possible not only between cars, but also with any other objects integrated into the global network of Internet devices.

In case of damage to the bionic shell covering the tire, the sensors in the tread can independently find a puncture. After the damage is detected, the tire rotates so that the puncture site does not fall into the contact spot. This allows you to reduce the pressure on the damaged part and start the process of self-healing. The tire is capable of self-recovering due to the properties of the innovative material, which has the ability to tighten the hole formed. At the puncture site, a chemical reaction occurs with the formation of new molecular bonds, as a result of which the hole disappears.

The new generation of tires will add value to automakers and companies operating under the concept of "mobility on demand" (MaaS). This is possible due to increased resource and preventive maintenance. Tires also will allow to raise to a new level the comfort of drivers making regular trips. This will be possible due to the fundamentally new safety features and the ability of tires to self-learn.

This year, Goodyear invited students from the French school of design ISD RUBIKA to create a concept car, which will be installed tires Eagle 360 ​​Urban. Working in close cooperation with Goodyear designers, design school students developed UMOD - a concept vehicle for cities, adapted to the needs of future mobility.

"A revolutionary breakthrough will occur at the intersection of unmanned driving, mobility and network integration. As the development of the importance of new bus technologies is increasing. Unmanned vehicles of the future will face daily on the road with millions of unfamiliar conditions and new situations, and to move safely they will need the ability to integrate into the overall data system, learn and adapt to the current situation, "said Jean-Claude Kihn, President of Goodyear EMEA.

Last year, Goodyear introduced the concept tire Eagle 360. Due to the spherical shape, the Eagle 360 ​​can rotate in any direction according to the requirements of unmanned vehicles. The unique shape of the tire allows you to achieve a completely new level of maneuverability of the car, as well as safety and comfort for the driver and passengers. After receiving positive feedback, the company decided to further develop the unique concept.

This year Goodyear again pushes the technological boundaries with Eagle 360 ​​Urban to demonstrate its vision of the future tires. Based on artificial intelligence technologies Goodyear creates "smart" tires. In addition to a plastic sheath with skin properties and a unique tread capable of changing shape, Eagle 360 ​​Urban spherical tires will have a "brain" and the ability to learn. The tire will become part of the "nervous system" of the car and part of the global network of connected devices. Thanks to these features, the tire will be able to quickly adapt to changing weather and road conditions, as well as to the new requirements of large fleet operators and their customers operating under the evolving concept of "on-demand mobility" (MaaS).

The plastic bionic shell covering the Goodyear Eagle 360 ​​Urban has a network of sensors that allow the tire to receive data about its condition and surrounding conditions, including the condition of the road surface. Due to communication with other vehicles and road infrastructure objects, traffic management systems, the Eagle 360 ​​Urban tire is able to receive information about the location of the car and the traffic situation in real time.

By combining these information sources and operatively processing data with the help of a neural network operating according to deep learning algorithms, the Eagle 360 ​​Urban bus is capable of making decisions and choosing the best procedure. Thanks to the technologies of artificial intelligence Eagle 360 ​​Urban is able to self-learn on the basis of the stored information about the actions done earlier, and to optimize the order of reactions to similar conditions.

The tire covering the bionic shell is made of superelastic polymer. It has the flexibility, comparable to human skin, which allows it to transform - expand and contract. Under the shell is concealed foam filler, strong enough to withstand the weight of the car, but retaining the flexibility. Due to this feature, the drive elements located under the "skin" work like the muscles of a man, moving individual sections of the tire tread. As a result of their actions, the tire surface changes according to the weather conditions. In particular, when moisture is detected, the number of grooves of the tread increases, and on the dry coating the shell is "smoothed out". Thus, the innovative protector is much safer than the modern protector, as it can change the properties of the tire in the contact spot.

Main characteristics and advantages

The artificial intelligence unit is the "brain" of the bus and provides:

• Constant analysis of road and weather conditions in real time, as well as monitoring the condition of the tire;
• Processing information obtained with the help of a neural network, operating according to the algorithms of in-depth training, which makes it possible to make decisions about necessary actions in the future and self-learning;
• The ability to change the tire surface due to the ability of the tread to transform and the availability of an interface for transferring data from the bus to the car;
• Interaction with other vehicles and elements of the Internet of things to access the collected information and the results of its processing;
• The surface of a bus made of a bionic shell with a high density of integrated sensors collects information about road and weather conditions and allows on its basis: Optimize the shape of the tread in the contact spot;
• Improve the parameters of braking, handling and fuel efficiency;
• To access data collected by other objects of the Internet of things.

Intelligent shape-changing protector recognizes a change in road or weather conditions and provides security until the onset of a potentially dangerous situation. Depending on road and weather conditions, the choice of the most suitable tread pattern is carried out automatically due to the capabilities of the bionic shell of the tire.

Bionic shell has the ability to self-repair. Interacting with the artificial intelligence unit, the shell constantly measures its current state and predicts wear, which allows it to collect data for an automated fleet vehicle fleet operation system and conduct preventive maintenance in advance. This helps to increase tire life and safety, which is especially important for comfortable tire operation and meets the requirements of service providers operating under the concept of "mobility on demand" (MaaS).

Spherical shape allows the tire to rotate in all directions, which provides additional comfort, safety and maneuverability of the car. These qualities correspond to the new requirements for tires of unmanned vehicles. Thanks to the spherical shape of tires, cars are better adapted to the new conditions of "smart" cities (limiting the area of ​​parking spaces, uniting cars into groups, simplified tire replacement procedures and others).