Image by Aristal Branson from Pixabay
We’re sorry. We know that the last thing you wanted to see was an article with AI in the title.
We know that every time you turn on the telly or the computer, there’s the AI hype train, hurtling towards you: AI is going to make your life so much nicer and shinier. AI will rewrite something for you, answer your questions, answer your kids’ questions, draw a picture, edit a photo, write a rubbish book, yadda, yadda, yadda. In fact, it’s probably easier if you just get back into bed right now, because AI’s got your life sorted.
But hold on, let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater here. Because there are some areas where AI can be a game-changer for all the right reasons. And as it turns out, tyre manufacture is one of them.
Spare a thought for the poor tyre researcher
Despite what Top Gear says, modern tyres are fabulous. Today’s drivers benefit from tougher, longer-lasting, safer, greener, better-performing tyres than ever before.
Achieving this has been a long journey. As we’ve pointed out before, tyres have to accommodate all sorts of conflicting demands. For example: we want our tyres to generate enough friction when braking and cornering, but not so much that it reduces fuel economy.
Getting these sorts of compromise to work is, to put it mildly, a challenge. Even getting the basic material to work with is eye-poppingly complex. During manufacture, different types of rubber have to be blended together in precise amounts – along with plenty of other materials – then treated at precise temperatures and pressures. Given that a typical passenger tyre makes use of around thirty types of synthetic rubber and eight natural types, the long-suffering tyre researcher has to juggle dozens of variables in the hope of finding the magic new combination.
But that’s just what the researchers do – benefiting of course from all the research that’s gone before. Then the compounds must be tested and retested before they even get near to a production tyre.
So how can AI help things along?
Tyre companies are using AI in many different ways, but three examples are:
- AI can suggest how to produce new materials. At Hankook, for example, researchers are drawing on AI’s vast processing ability to “assess the physical properties of the finished result, providing recommendations for an optimum mixture and greatly reduce the development time for a new mixture.” [quote from Tyre Trade News]
- AI can simulate physical tests of new products. Testing every single new idea is time-consuming, inefficient and not exactly very green. AI can cut through some of this by providing predictions of how materials will perform. Nexen, for example, are using virtual reality simulators powered by AI: “The Driving Simulator creates an environment that simulates real-world conditions without the use of actual vehicles, allowing drivers to assess virtual tire performance.” But don’t worry – these simulations won’t replace physical tests, just remove some of the donkey work.
- AI can ‘think outside of the box’ in the development process. One thing that medical researchers have discovered is that AI is able to propose solutions that hadn’t occurred to them. It does this by being able to pick through huge amounts of information and spotting patterns that humans can’t. In the tyre world, development teams are leveraging AI in the same way. According to Tyre Trade News, Yokohama’s teams are finding that “AI can also be used to assess the physical properties of the finished result, providing recommendations for an optimum mixture and greatly reduce the development time for a new mixture.”
Will AI replace tyre development teams?
Depressingly, AI is already replacing plenty of jobs, but it looks as though tyre researchers will be safe for the time being. Every article we’ve seen on this emphasises that AI is a tool that works hand-in-robot-hand with human researchers.
We all want stronger, better-performing, greener tyres, so this might be one area where AI can live up to the hype.
The BK Tyres blog carries news, views and information on tyres and related subjects. BK Tyres supplies and fits tyres throughout South Oxfordshire, including the communities of Abingdon, Didcot and Henley on Thames. As an independent, family run mobile provider, we provide exceptional levels of service and affordable prices. Contact us today.