Bridgestone Americas and Geotab, a leading provider of connected vehicle solutions, have announced a strategic partnership to enhance fleet optimisation. By combining their expertise and resources, the two companies aim to create a comprehensive fleet mobility ecosystem that delivers significant customer benefits.

Under the partnership's terms, Bridgestone will gain access to Geotab's extensive network of connected vehicles, which will provide valuable insights into fleet behaviour and performance. This data will enable Bridgestone to optimise its Mobility Solutions offerings and develop tailored solutions to meet its customers' specific needs.

In return, Geotab will gain access to Bridgestone's fleet data, which will be used to train its AI models and improve the accuracy and effectiveness of its analytics tools. This collaboration will allow Geotab to provide its customers with even more valuable insights and recommendations for optimising their fleets.

"We are pleased to be working with Bridgestone to enhance vehicle fleet mobility through advanced data insights and AI," said Louis De Jong, Chief Revenue Officer, Geotab. "Geotab and Geotab ITS are leaders in telematics and data management with a long history of innovation and investments in privacy and security. Together, we have an exceptional opportunity to improve safety, sustainability and performance outcomes for fleets."

Bridgestone and Geotab have distinct yet complementary identities within the larger mobility ecosystem, and this collaboration is an important step forward for our Bridgestone Mobility Solutions business," said Scott Damon, Group President, West Bridgestone Mobility Solutions. "By leveraging Geotab's expertise and insights, we have an opportunity to study and validate our evolving products and technologies. We are using a larger set of data points to expand the scale of our solutions and improve customer outcomes for commercial fleets."

Nexen Tire has developed an AI-based automated tyre product inspection system. The company says it’s the first of its kind in the tyre industry, claims the company.

The system is designed to be easily applied to new factories or equipment, thanks to its platform-based format. This marks a significant expansion of AI’s role in Nexen Tire’s operations, moving from tyre development to manufacturing processes.

Tyre manufacturers face immense pressure to ensure product quality, as even minor defects can pose safety risks. Nexen Tire’s new system uses machine vision technology to inspect tyres for structural defects and air bubbles.

The AI component of the system interprets inspection images, improving accuracy compared to traditional human visual assessments. It has achieved a defect detection reproducibility rate of up to 99.96 percent, identifying flaws that human inspectors might miss.

Nexen Tire has also automated the entire process of AI training and application. The company collaborated with Neurocle Inc. and PDS Solution Inc. to develop a platform-based system that uses Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) technology.

This approach has significantly reduced the time required to create a deep-learning model from months to days. The platform-based system also allows for rapid deployment in new factories.

“By introducing AI technology, we have significantly improved the precision and efficiency of our tire inspection process,” said a representative from Nexen Tire. “We will continue to expand the application of AI technology to the entire development and manufacturing processes beyond non-destructive testing.”

Evonik, one of the world leaders in speciality chemicals, is developing a new process that could make more recycled rubber useable for new tyres.

Because of its chemical structure, recycled rubber has been very limited in its suitability for use in new tyres. However, Evonik's research team has made significant progress with a new process that may allow for the use of up to four times as much recycled rubber in new tyres as previously possible. The development project by Evonik additionally bolsters the tyre manufacturers' extensive sustainability endeavours.

Normal production of new tyre rubber involves vulcanising raw rubber, sulphur and other ingredients. Applying pressure and heat causes the sulphur to link with the rubber's long carbon chains, creating a strong, three-dimensional network. That is also how tyre rubber from tyres nearing their end of life is structured. Nevertheless, the material's characteristics are different from non-vulcanised rubber because it has previously undergone vulcanisation. Currently, the top limit imposed by trade associations in the tyre recycling industry is an admixture of roughly five percent ground tyre rubber from end-of-life tyres. As a result, only a small proportion of recycled rubber powder is currently employed again in the production of new tyres. Furthermore, a lot of tyres nearing their end of life are still thermally reprocessed to be used as fuel for energy production. However, Evonik’s research team has now succeeded in reversing the vulcanisation of rubber to a large extent.

Christian Mani, Project Manager – Circularity, Evonik, said, “That brings us much closer to the key targets of sustainability and resource efficiency in this sector. Rubber is far too valuable a raw material to be used only once in tyres. We want to incorporate it into a circular system. By adding a special formulation containing vinyl silanes, the firm bonds in the recycled rubber can be split. We cleave the sulphur bridges in the rubber, yet leave as many of the long carbon chains as possible untouched.”

These vinyl silanes have already been successfully used for devulcanisation by the study team. In contrast to the above-mentioned technical criterion of about five percent, the percentage of recycle in the rubber blend could be increased to as much as 20 percent in testing. With test series and trials, Evonik is currently moving towards the next significant goals. Finding a solution that clients may use to industrial production in the near future is the goal. "Ultimately, our approach must prove convincing on a large, commercial scale,” added Mani.

Webfleet, Bridgestone’s globally trusted fleet management solution, will present its new AI Assistant at IAA Transportation 2024 today. The tool is aimed at simplifying fleet management by allowing fleet managers to interact with their fleet data intuitively and easily.

As a beta project, the Webfleet AI Assistant is presented with the goal of working with clients to enhance the product. The Webfleet OptiDrive solution will be the primary focus of the beta project in order to give Webfleet clients feedback based on accurate responses to driving behaviour problems. The Webfleet fleet management software prioritises data security and has earned ISO 27001 certification, meaning it satisfies the highest industry standards for data security, availability and quality. Sensitive fleet data is protected since it is stored inside the Webfleet environment using OptiDrive's Webfleet AI Assistant.

The AI-based solution provides historical and real-time data on important fleet performance metrics, such as energy and fuel usage as well as driving behaviours like speeding, idling, and hard braking. Fleet managers can quickly obtain detailed overviews by typing enquiries such as "What is the fuel consumption trend over the last three months?" or "Give me the statistics for all driving time and total mileage for my drivers, aggregated for the last five months." Additionally, they have access to pre-written prompts and recommended follow-up enquiries.

Raghunath Banerjee, Vice President – Data Solutions, Bridgestone Mobility Solutions, commented, “We are happy to show the first demo of the Webfleet AI Assistant at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2024 today, which will be a game changer for fleet management. As fleet vehicles and assets are creating more and more connected data, our job is to provide actionable insights to fleet decision makers in an easy and fast way. Our new AI Assistant is doing that with the simplicity of an intuitive AI: by directly interacting with their data and asking questions, fleet customers can take data-driven actions faster and with more clarity to improve their operations.”

The Webfleet AI Assistant is available for testing for selected Webfleet customers. Attendees of IAA TRANSPORTATION can see the first demo of the AI Assistant at the Bridgestone Fleet Care booth in Hall 12, #C54.

Model Solution, a total hardware platform company and subsidiary of Hankook Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hycore Co Ltd, a Korea-based company specialising in AI mobility, with a focus on prototyping and mass production of AI-based robotic mobility.

As per the agreement, the two companies decided to work together to develop AI-based robotic mobility that can be applied broadly across a range of industries, including logistics, short-term mobility solutions, as in the event of a quarantine, and autonomous electric wheelchairs for those with mobility disabilities. Model Solution will leverage its advanced hardware manufacturing technology to create prototypes and will play a key role in the entire mass production process, whereas Hycore will take the responsibility for product design and field testing.

Hycore creates personal mobility solutions, such as LiDAR-based autonomous electric wheelchairs, using proprietary technology in synthetic motor control and AI-based autonomous driving. The company also sponsors a number of sporting events run by the Korean Paralympic Committee, which furthers the growth of sports for individuals with disabilities.

Model Solution seeks to expedite the development of goods that combine the technologies and know-how of both businesses. It is anticipated that this partnership would greatly increase its competitiveness on a worldwide scale in the AI robot mobility space, a crucial area of the business going forward. 

Byung-il Woo, CEO, Model Solution, said, “We are honoured to sign the MOU at the historic site of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. We are committed to enhancing social value across various fields, including improving convenience for individuals with mobility impairments through the development and mass production of products utilising Model Solution’s innovative technology.”

Dong-hyun Park, CEO, Hycore, added, “We hope this agreement will provide an opportunity for both companies to collaborate on developing future technologies. We’re striving to become a company that realises technologies essential to every individual.”