Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • European Rubber Journal
  • Plastics News
  • Tire Business
web
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Automotive
    • Tire
    • Non-Tire
    • Suppliers
    • Silicone
    • Latex
    • Coronavirus
    • Executive Action
    • Government/Legal
    • Opinion
    • Technical Notebooks
    • Women in Tire & Rubber
    • ITEC
    • International Elastomer Show
    • HEXPOL Sponsored Content
    • Video: Michelin, ProovStation partner on automated vehicle inspections
      European Union new car registration up 87 percent in March
      SEMA: Light trucks/CUVs expected account for 80% of new U.S. sales by 2028
      GM: 2035 is EV goal but not a guarantee
    • Video: Michelin, ProovStation partner on automated vehicle inspections
      Bridgestone to upgrade Japanese OTR tire plant
      Commercial tire, retreading sectors on solid footing
      Vipal targets North America for machinery sales growth
    • Rubber industry associations optimistic about Biden's infrastructure plan
      Nike to step up rubber sustainability efforts
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
    • Sabic providing $500K for STEM scholarships at HBCUs
      Zeon integrates rubber and latex divisions
      New Products: Birla Carbon showcases two new carbon blacks
      Polyurethane sector hit by shortages, higher material costs
    • Smithers ramps up with Suzhou testing facility
      5 for 50: Bruce Meyer's five most memorable work trips
      AirBoss unveiling high heat-resistant EPDM
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
    • ‘China-only Chinaplas' opens as first major industry show in the pandemic
      Latin America faces tough recovery from COVID-19, KraussMaffei executive says
      Titan Tire to offer free COVID-19 vaccines at Iowa facility
      Bridgestone hosts vaccination events for plant employees
    • Detroit 3 execs join voting rights debate in Michigan
      Harwick Standard hires Marc Pignataro to executive role
      Motion Industries promotes industry veteran Jim May
      Hutchinson names new chairman, CEO
    • Biden's infrastructure proposal could boost transition to EVs, AVs
      Former Saint-Gobain lawyer alleges PFOA wrongdoing
      Rubber industry associations optimistic about Biden's infrastructure plan
      Experts seek to address connected-, autonomous-vehicle energy consumption
    • Meyer: Sunflowers seek their due
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
      Column: Ramping up to an RPN milestone
      Our view: It may be time to rethink, rebuild supply chains
    • Correlating cure kinetics and physical properties with accelerator variations in a model SBR compound
      Material to give tire compounds lower density, lower hysteresis and improved wear
      Technical notebook: How to control porosity in extruded EPDM dense profile
      Part 2: Studying RPA ASTM methods for detecting compound quality differences
    • WORD Conversations: Charles Goodyear Medalist Puskas says academia needs to ease time commitments
      Women find success, opportunity in petrochemicals
      Rubber Division to host WORD webinar series
      Rubber Division introduces WORD webinar series
    • Goodyear recognized by Lockheed Martin as 'elite supplier'
      EV tire advancements to help secure future
      Lambillotte: Only question on AVs is timing
      CAR official says EV future brighter than autonomous
    • Rubber Division preparing for Spring Technical Meeting
      Rubber Division introduces WORD webinar series
      Rubber Division seeks abstracts for 200th Technical Meeting
      WORD panelists say evolution, authenticity keys to success
    • Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      Faster Access to Your Polymer Compounding Experts Around the World
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      Take a walk thru a HEXPOL Lab
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      HEXPOL offers a unique selection of High Performance Elastomers to match your application requirements
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      It’s what you can’t see that makes the Difference at HEXPOL
  • Blogs
    • Products
    • Wacky World of Rubber
    • New Products: Birla Carbon showcases two new carbon blacks
      New Products: MonTech adds to LP 3000 lab press lineup with custom options
      New Products: 3M rolls out new silicone adhesive for medical use
      GRI gains OE fitment for KION Group forklifts
    • Wacky World of Rubber: How Trelleborg, teens sealed a spot in the world record book
      Wacky World of Rubber: Of chicken and feet, but not chicken feet
      Wacky World of Rubber: Time to go mattress shopping
      Wacky World of Rubber: Because nothing says football like 'frunk' shrimp
  • Newsletters
    • Rubber in Automotive
    • Silicone News
    • Latex News
    • Sign Up for Newsletters
    • Video: Michelin, ProovStation partner on automated vehicle inspections
      European Union new car registration up 87 percent in March
      SEMA: Light trucks/CUVs expected account for 80% of new U.S. sales by 2028
      GM: 2035 is EV goal but not a guarantee
    • Smithers ramps up with Suzhou testing facility
      5 for 50: Bruce Meyer's five most memorable work trips
      AirBoss unveiling high heat-resistant EPDM
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
    • Zeon integrates rubber and latex divisions
      Meyer: Sunflowers seek their due
      World Rubber Summit to be virtual this year
      Synthomer launches Asia innovation center in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Directory
  • Resources
    • Classifieds & Mold Mart
    • Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • HB Chemical
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      The HB Chemical and Ravago Partnership: Taking Customer Service to a New Level
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      Above and Beyond with HB Chemical
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      The Company Behind the Inventory
      Sponsored By French Oil Mill Machinery
      Process Improvement, Cost Reduction with Custom Press Systems
    • Sponsored By AirBoss
      AirBoss introduces next-gen EPDM compound: HeatBoss EPDM
      Sponsored By Uncountable Inc.
      Labs of the Future: How to Choose a Laboratory Information Management System in 2021
      Sponsored By Uncountable Inc.
      Cooper Standard deploys lab informatics platform to synchronize R&D
      Sponsored By Elkem
      LSR Select™: A solution to improve your financial impact in molding applications
  • Data
  • Events
    • RPN Events
    • RPN Livestreams/Webinars
    • Industry Events
    • Past Events
    • ITEC Library
    • International Silicone Conference Library
    • 2021 Healthcare Elastomers Virtual Edition
      2021 Rubber in Automotive Virtual Edition
      2021 International Latex Conference Virtual Edition
      2022 ITEC
  • Advertise
  • DIGITAL EDITION
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Automotive
March 08, 2021 10:50 AM

Goodyear on road to success with future mobility focus

Dan Shingler
Crain's Cleveland Business
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Goodyear
    Sometimes, tire testing involves burning a little rubber.

    AKRON—The city appears to be at the center of something big in the world of tech—something with a huge, imminent market. Something that's going to require years, if not decades, of research, development and testing. Something that will help drive Akron's future economy.

    Tires.

    Those rubber doughnuts that might have been good enough for the old man's Oldsmobile, aren't going to cut it in a world full of electric and driverless cars, Goodyear executives and auto technology experts say.

    Tomorrow's tires will have a host of sensors and be almost as smart and sophisticated as the cars and interconnected information systems with which they will constantly communicate, said Chris Helsel, Goodyear's senior vice president of global operations and chief technology officer.

    "There are a lot of reasons you want intelligence with tires," Helsel said.

    Systems to constantly monitor tire pressure have become as common as power windows. Helsel said the next step will be to make tires that monitor and report temperature, their own tread wear and condition, and then even how much grip a road surface is providing via coefficient of friction measurements.

    Such sensor-based technology either is in use or soon will be on Goodyear's test tracks in Akron and San Angelo, Texas, he said, but it won't stop there.

    "I believe it will be coming to all tires that everybody buys," Helsel said of the developing technology. "When you're driving, not to freak everybody out, but you basically drive on four palm-sized pieces of rubber that hit the road. ... At that interface is the critical information that says: 'Am I gripping or am I slipping?' Think about being able to put all that information into traction control."

    Auto makers already are thinking about it and will demand such features from their original equipment tire suppliers in the future, Helsel said. They want to make their cars safer, and smart tires will be the key to getting the most out of things like anti-lock brakes and traction-control systems, he said.

    And that's just in the near term. In the years ahead, autonomous vehicles are not only going to need more information from their tires, they'll be able to do more with that information with their faster-than-human reflexes and ability to analyze conditions.

    "People are going to want autonomous vehicles to drive safely in the rain, the snow and ice, just like they do today," Helsel said.

    Chris Helsel

    Lawrence Burns agrees smarter tires are key to that being a reality. An author and consultant for companies working on AV technology, including Goodyear, he's also the former head of research and development for General Motors and a bit of driving futurist.

    Burns sees a world in which tires don't only communicate with the cars to which they're attached, but their data also will go into larger, shared systems. He envisions riding in cars that use real-time weather data to anticipate frozen road surfaces.

    Eventually, they'll also get shared data from the tires on other cars ahead of them on the highway, Burns said. So, if ice actually exists, every car will know exactly when the road will turn slick.

    Future cars will combine that data with things like tire pressure and tread wear to provide the most effective braking and cornering and the safest ride possible, according to Burns.

    "What an exciting time to be in the tire business," Burns said. "The tire industry today is not a mature rust belt industry, but a technology-driven, very dynamic industry that's going to have a lot to say about how this (AV) industry plays out. ... This, I think, bodes well for tire companies that embrace it."

    Georges Aoude, co-founder and CEO of Derq, an AI-driven intelligent transportation company in Dubai and Detroit, also works on self-driving technology and agrees that tires will be critical to AVs' success.

    "They are super important," Aoude said of the newest and next generations of smart tires. "Advanced tire-sensors fall under the (category of) in-vehicle sensors and would allow the AVs to proactively understand the 'health' of their tires. More specifically, detecting potential tire-related problems before they happen will help them navigate safely and improve their productivity," Aoude said via email.

    Burns and Aoude also think such technology will become more important as more passenger vehicles belong to fleets, possibly being used by consumers who won't buy their own vehicles but will subscribe to a vehicle-sharing service. The owners of those fleets will want to keep their vehicles as safe as possible to protect their customers and avoid liability, as well as to manage their costs more effectively by knowing exactly when to buy new tires.

    "They're going to want the safest tire and to know that every time they put a fleet vehicle on the road, it's prepared for the road ... and also gives the most optimized cost per mile," Burns said.

    Goodyear gets some less obvious benefits from its R&D work as well. For instance, it's one reason the company's acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in Findlay makes sense, Darren Wells, Goodyear chief financial officer, said shortly after that deal was disclosed in February.

    "(Cooper's) R&D footprint is not nearly as broad as ours. They really don't have the equivalent of our fundamental research," Wells said.

    Goodyear
    Goodyear's test tracks in Ohio and Texas allow the tire maker to design tires with sophisticated technological advancements.

    But by applying its technical expertise to Cooper's tires, Wells said, Goodyear "can use the additional scale to get more benefit from that work."

    All of this bodes well for Akron, which may have lost Goodyear's consumer tire production shops decades ago, but still hosts what are arguably the company's most important R&D and testing facilities.

    "We have 700-plus engineers and scientists working in the Akron area," Helsel said.

    Akron's importance was evidence when Goodyear recently invested in new simulators to help it test and develop tires. The company purchased three of them in January. Luxembourg, Goodyear's other technical hub, got one, but Akron got two—and only Akron got the more sophisticated, dynamic simulator that Helsel said can more realistically mimic nearly any vehicle for the test drivers that use it. Luxembourg will probably also get one of the dynamic simulators later, he added.

    He declined to specify what Goodyear spent on the high-grade simulator—the first to be used in the tire industry—but said "you're talking about millions" of dollars.

    Buying one of those simulators for Akron only made sense, Helsel said.

    "All of the consumer tire and truck tire (R&D) work for the Americas is done out of here, as well as some consumer stuff for the rest of the world," Helsel said.

    This isn't lost on city officials grateful for Goodyear's allegiance to the town, including James Hardy, Akron deputy mayor for integrated development.

    "I think a lot of people don't know how much R&D infrastructure Goodyear has in the city—we have more than 700 Goodyear employees focused on R&D every day in the city. They have the test track, the labs, the innovation lab—and there are only four of those in the company," Hardy said. "When you start to think about what it means to our local economy, it's huge."

    The need for the R&D that Goodyear conducts in Akron is only going to increase, too, according to those following the company and the AV industry.

    "This is not, 'I solve it over two years, and I'm done,' " Burns said.

    AVs will continue to need more and more information from their tires in the future, he said. "Moore's law keeps playing out, so the onboard processors keep getting smarter."

    Akron will continue to play a leading role in Goodyear's R&D efforts, too, according to Helsel.

    "Our commitment to this area is huge—because it's a huge part of what we do," he said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Rubber & Plastics News wants to hear from its readers. If you want to express your opinion on a story or issue, email your letter to Editor Bruce Meyer at [email protected].

    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Rubber & Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe Today

    Subscribe to Rubber & Plastics News to get the best coverage and leading insights in the industry.

    SUBSCRIBE
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    MISSION

    To serve companies in the global rubber product industry by delivering news, industry insights, opinions and technical information.

    web
    Contact Us

    2291 Riverfront Pkwy, Suite 1000
    Cuyahoga Falls,
    OH 44221

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1726

    Resources
    • About Us
    • Digital Edition
    • Contact the Staff
    • Advertise
    • Order Reprints
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    • Terms of Service
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Partner Sites
    • Tire Business
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Plastics News
    • Plastics News China
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Automotive News
    • Crain Brands
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Automotive
      • Tire
      • Non-Tire
      • Suppliers
      • Silicone
      • Latex
      • Coronavirus
      • Executive Action
      • Government/Legal
      • Opinion
      • Technical Notebooks
      • Women in Tire & Rubber
      • ITEC
      • International Elastomer Show
      • HEXPOL Sponsored Content
    • Blogs
      • Products
      • Wacky World of Rubber
    • Newsletters
      • Rubber in Automotive
      • Silicone News
      • Latex News
      • Sign Up for Newsletters
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Photo Galleries
    • Directory
    • Resources
      • Classifieds & Mold Mart
      • Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
    • Data
    • Events
      • RPN Events
      • RPN Livestreams/Webinars
      • Industry Events
      • Past Events
      • ITEC Library
      • International Silicone Conference Library
    • Advertise
    • DIGITAL EDITION