Developing smart tires with high sensing capability is significant for improving the moving stability and environmental adaptability of wheeled robots and vehicles. However, due to the classical manufacturing design, it is always challenging for tires to infer external information precisely. To this end, this paper introduces a bimodal sensing tire, which can simultaneously capture tactile and visual data. By leveraging the emerging visuotactile techniques, the proposed smart tire can realize various functions, including terrain recognition, ground crack detection, load sensing, and tire damage detection. Besides, we optimize the material and structure of the tire to ensure its outstanding elasticity, toughness, hardness, and transparency. In terms of algorithms, a transformer-based multimodal classification algorithm, a load detection method based on finite element analysis, and a contact segmentation algorithm have been developed. Furthermore, we construct an intelligent mobile platform to validate the system's effectiveness and develop visual and tactile datasets in complex terrains. The experimental results show that our multimodal terrain sensing algorithm can achieve a classification accuracy of 99.2\%, a tire damage detection accuracy of 97\%, a 98\% success rate in object search, and the ability to withstand tire loading weights exceeding 35 kg. In addition, we open-source our algorithms, hardware, and datasets at https://sites.google.com/view/vtire.

Tire manufacturers are unveiling new smart tires, complete with intelligent AI software seeking to lend a helping hand to drivers. Tire makers such as Goodyear and Bridgestone have teamed up with AI software developers to create self-detecting tires with the ability to notify drivers when they require a change. The intelligence may help mitigate potential hazards down the line. The first on-the-road testers are last-mile delivery vehicles delivering pertinent data to cloud-computing platforms to provide real-time information using intelligent AI design. The innovation is not ready to be implemented on a mass scale, but the possibilities already are being weighed by experts.

The technology is geared toward vehicles that specialize in last-mile delivery, which refers to the final step in getting packages from a distribution center to the customer. The market for last-mile delivery has picked up as online shopping has soared during the coronavirus pandemic. Goodyear's new technology, announced Wednesday, is called SightLine and includes a sensor and proprietary machine-learning algorithms that can predict flat tires or other issues days ahead of time, by measuring tire wear, pressure, road-surface conditions and many other factors. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. The surge of last-mile deliveries during the pandemic means that a lot of vehicles are on the road, "stopping and going, hitting curbs, causing damage to the tires, causing breakdowns and congestion," said Richard Kramer, chief executive of Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear.

Goodyear is among several tire makers to bet on tech-embedded tires. German automaker Continental has sold digital tire monitoring systems for medium-duty trucks for years. The sensors mounted inside the tire can also be purchased separately and retrofitted. French manufacturer Michelin and Japan-based Bridgestone have similar tech to measure strain on tires. Pirelli is responsible for the sensors inside wheels on the latest McLaren Artura sports car.

Are you ready for a new wave of'smart tires?' Goodyear and Tesloop have teamed up to create them! Goodyear is teaming up with car service Tesloop to test a new breed of sensors that monitor a tire's condition. Goodyear is testing a smart-tire that, much like a Fitbit, relays condition information based on cloud computing analytics. The U.S. manufacturer has teamed with California-based car service Tesloop to gauge the efficiency of a tire embedded with a sensor that can monitor metrics such as pressure and temperature. While many vehicles today are equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems that tell you how low on air your tire might be, this system represents a step toward a more sophisticated approach that will be critical once fleets of self-driving cars hit the roads.