AUTONEWS

Goodyear and ZF Collaborate to Improve Vehicle Motion Control with Tire Intelligence

One of every driver's main enemies is aquaplaning, this delicate situation that occurs when driving with tires over puddles of water that can cause a momentary loss of grip between the wheel and the asphalt, causing the car to lose its trajectory.

Avoiding this is simple and can be done in several ways. Firstly, choosing the appropriate tires and then driving with great caution and applying safety techniques that can be learned on countless safe driving courses. But when all this is not enough, what happens?

Nowadays, technology can help in these situations, thanks to modern stability and braking control systems, which are now effective and precise. Its latest evolution in this regard is the new scalable software platform developed by Goodyear and ZF, which was presented coinciding with CES 2024, celebrated in Las Vegas, USA.

This new scalable software platform developed by the two companies in the tire and component industry integrates two technologies, developed in-house, by their respective companies.

These are the Goodyear Sightline and ZF cubiX, the first integrated within the second, designed with the aim of being able to transmit additional tire and road data to the onboard safety systems, allowing a better driving experience with more comfort, control and efficiency.

Specifically, Goodyear's SightLine is software capable of detecting partial aquaplaning in advance, reducing the risk and offering real-time recommendations on the ideal speed.

But that's not all, when a high probability of the low grip phenomenon is detected, the cubiX software enriched with intelligent tire data is able to move the chassis actuators (e.g. like those of modern by-wire steering systems) to apply corrective measures, stabilizing the car.

The Goodyear and ZF system is part of a range of products developed by several companies around the world that we will soon see in cars, perhaps in combination with the most modern level 2 and 3 ADAS systems, all for the benefit of safety. road traffic, currently a real problem for many countries around the world. To find out more, we will just have to wait for the next few months.

During the presentation, Chris Helsel, Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer at Goodyear, commented:

“Tires are the only part of the vehicle in contact with the road, and by digitizing this connection and equipping vehicle control actuators with intelligent information, we can help optimize a vehicle’s performance and safety.”

“This collaboration with ZF is a great way to demonstrate how much tire intelligence, reliable predictions and elite software applications can do for mobility.”

Mundoquatrorodas