Goodyear has revealed its long-term vision for future smart, connected tires. In an evolving mobility ecosystem defined by the transition to driverless vehicles and shared mobility in urban centers, Goodyear aims to revolutionize the interaction between tires, vehicles and their surroundings. Goodyear unveiled the Eagle 360 Urban, its latest concept tire, at the Geneva International Motor Show. This 3-D printed sphere is the first concept tire to be powered by Artificial Intelligence and able to sense, decide, transform and interact.
“A revolution will take place at the intersection of autonomy, mobility and connectivity. As this unfolds, tire technology will be even more important than it is today. To safely navigate their surroundings, the autonomous vehicles of the future will need to learn to cope with the millions of possible unknowns we face in every day driving scenarios. To do so they will need access to data and the ability to learn and adapt,” said Jean-Claude Kihn, president of Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Last year, with the Eagle 360 concept tire, Goodyear presented a unique, multi-directional sphere to match the demands of autonomous driving through increased levels of comfort, safety and maneuverability. The positive feedback received encouraged the manufacturer to take this concept even further.
This year, with the Eagle 360 Urban, Goodyear is pushing the boundaries again, aiming to illustrate a vision of how the future could look. Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Goodyear is giving the concept tire a ‘brain’. Combined with a bionic skin and morphing tread, the Eagle 360 Urban has the ability to put knowledge into practice. The tire will become part of the vehicle’s ‘nervous system’ and the connected world of the Internet of Things. That way, it is ready to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances, as well as the evolving needs of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) for fleets and their users.
Goodyear’s Eagle 360 Urban features bionic skin with a sensor network that allows the concept tire to check on its own status and gather information on its environment, including the road surface. Via connectivity with other vehicles as well as infrastructure, traffic and mobility management systems, the Eagle 360 Urban also captures information on its surroundings in real-time.
By combining these sources of information and processing them instantaneously using neural networks trained with deep learning algorithms, the Eagle 360 Urban decides the most appropriate course of action. And, powered by Artificial Intelligence, the Eagle 360 Urban learns from previous actions how to optimize future responses.