AUTONEWS

Bridgestone and Microsoft Can Tell Drivers About Tire Damage in Real Time

It's hard to tell the true health of your vehicle's tires without regular manual inspections, but we may not need them for much longer thanks to a new partnership between Bridgestone and Microsoft.
Today, Bridgestone unveiled its new Tire Damage Monitoring System (TDMS), which the company claims is capable of delivering "real-time awareness" of the damage present for each tire fitted to a vehicle. It does this using sensor data taken from hardware already fitted to a vehicle, and utilizes Microsoft's Connected Vehicle Platform (MCVP) to collate and present the information to the driver.
Using TDMS, it's possible to inform the driver when and where fresh damage occurs. That allows immediate action to be taken by the driver, but if the damage is caused by a pothole, for example, the information can be sent to relevant agencies automatically. That way they know where repairs are needed without having to regularly go out and inspect road surfaces manually.
Bridgestone says there's no equivalent monitoring system to TDMS available on the market today, and that "alternatives would require extra hardware to be installed." Any vehicle already using MCVP can take advantage of TDMS and benefit from improvements made to it in the future thanks to over-the-air updates.

"Microsoft partners with mobility companies to support their transformation into smart mobility services providers. With the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, our mission is to help businesses accelerate the delivery of safe and personalized connected mobility experiences," says Tara Prakriya, General Manager of Azure Mobility and Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform at Microsoft. "Using MCVP, Bridgestone has created Tyre Damage Monitoring System that offers a remarkable contribution to road safety and proves how the collaboration between industry leaders can unlock new business opportunities ahead."

by Matthew Humphries