AKRON — Since the automotive aftermarket always is about five years behind the hottest technology — new vehicles don't need much work after all — tire and automotive service shops enjoy a sort of "heads up" of what is coming in the near future.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, aka robots, it seems as if we are closer to the diet-soda delivering robot from "Rocky 3" than Arnold's "Terminator." It all seems very far away — like, "I'll be dead by then" far away — but it really isn't.
This is particularly true of driverless vehicles. Sure, while the average American isn't going to be taxiing around regularly without a driver, the technology already is being used, and it already is requiring repairs.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) — think a vehicle's camera and alert sensors — are the basis for movement of AI, and it would behoove any independent tire and auto shop owner to learn more.
Tire Business will kick off a monthly newsletter called "Aligning with ADAS" on April 14. The content will be offered to all readers FREE of charge. We believe this is important information for our core audience — independent tire and auto service shop owners — and the perfect example of how our journalism can help boost the industry as a whole.
The newsletter will be sent the second Thursday of each month.
To sign up for the newsletter, visit tirebusiness.com/newsletters. There you can register for the new ADAS newsletter as well as our other offerings. OR ...
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Our aim is to bring you a greater understanding of ADAS technology and help you prepare your personnel to take advantage of the changing times. We will do this both through explanatory journalism and the added insights of an expert.
Each month, Pam Oakes, an accomplished technician and former shop owner, will share stories from shops around the country troubleshooting ADAS issues in her new column "Getting the Straight-Skinny on ADAS."
This month, she tells the tale of a BMW "seeing ghosts" and how they figured it out.
