Nexen develops AI-based road surface detection, braking technology

SEOUL, South Korea—Nexen Tire Corp. has developed a road surface detection and tire braking distance analysis technology using artificial intelligence and big data processing tools.

The South Korean tire maker is planning to use the technology for "tire braking logic," which will be adapted based on climate conditions and road conditions in the future.

The technology, said Nexen in a Dec. 5 statement, was developed as part of an industry-academia joint research project, in which Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., and Inha University studied over 300,000 sets of tire noise data collected from 250 on-road tests.

The process involved collecting noises from various road surfaces, such as dry and wet concrete, new asphalt, and aged asphalt.

Using AI, the scientists developed a technology that detects the road surface and connects it to tire braking characteristics using the collected data.

Nexen said it had filed its first patent application for the technology.

The tire maker said the technology will be particularly suitable for autonomous vehicles, optimizing their control performance by enabling the detection of the surface and weather conditions in order to identify the tire braking distance.