Goodyear and Gatik have demonstrated, in a proof of concept, that intelligent tires powered by Goodyear SightLine technology can accurately estimate tire-road friction potential and provide real-time information to Gatik’s automated driving system.

Goodyear and Gatik deployed road-friction detection capabilities in Canada through continuous measurement of tire sensor-derived information, which is paired with other vehicle data and connected to Goodyear’s cloud-based proprietary algorithms to optimize vehicle performance. Friction estimates from Goodyear’s SightLine solution were successfully able to detect low grip conditions, such as snowy or icy conditions, and make this information available to Gatik’s autonomous fleet, enhancing safety and performance for Gatik’s commercial operations in Canada’s challenging winter climate.

With road-friction data, tires can help enable smoother, safer and more sustainable driving, the companies say. This is critical information for autonomous vehicles in terms of path planning and providing recommendations for safe driving speed, vehicle acceleration limits and vehicle following distance.

Goodyear SightLine technology is designed to measure the tire wear state, load, inflation pressure and temperature. It combines that with real-time road-weather data and proprietary rubber friction models to estimate the tire-road friction potential. Having this information in real-time enables Gatik’s fleet to safely and efficiently respond to challenging conditions within its operational design domain (ODD).