LAS VEGAS — Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) believes its Sensing Core software will be one of the tools that makes autonomous driving safe enough to become common place in the future.
In the meantime, the Japanese tire maker is using the artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make vehicle fleets safer while operating more efficiently.
SRI hosted several informational sessions on Sensing Core at CES 2025 in early January in Las Vegas.
"As self-driving technology continues to advance, there is a risk of people becoming less conscious of driving and car maintenance," David Johansen, vice president of advanced technology at SRI America, said.
"(With Sensing Core), we've become able to predict failures, not only in tires but also in the entire vehicle."
Sensing Core is software that tracks vehicle data and uses AI to organize and interpret it in real time. In its current practical application, the software can measure tire wear and damage, load, tire pressure, loose lug nuts and road conditions.
@tire.business Sumitomo Rubber Industries presented Sensing Core technology at #CES ♬ Future - Hazzakbeats
The evolution of "software-defined" vehicles will lead to a future "chauffeured by autonomous vehicles," but only if it can be done safely, Johansen said.
"A lot of work has gone into this space to be able to make these improvements, notably over the past several years. Processing of visible data sources just from cameras or from LiDAR is rapidly improving, but this data by itself is not enough," Johansen said.
"Invisible data sources which can be obtained from tire rotation signals are also essential," he said. "This is a role that Sensing Core can fill."
Sensing Core evolved from Sumitomo's 25-year development of its Deflation Warning System (DWS) that indirectly detects changes in tire pressure without the need of additional tire pressure monitoring sensors in the tires.
SRI partnered with AI analytics company Viaduct Inc. on Sensing Core.