CLERMONT-FERRAND, France — Group Michelin, in partnership with a French developer of automated vehicle inspection equipment, is adapting its QuickScan roll-over tire-monitoring system to the consumer vehicle sector.
Michelin is partnering with ProovStation J.S.C. to promote an automated drive-through service bay that can detect and analyze vehicle damage. The inspection station concept employs a range of "high-tech vehicle scanners," assisted by optical technologies to conduct a 360° scan of the vehicle "in just three seconds," according to ProovStation.
Michelin is bringing a version of its patented QuickScan technology, designed for monitoring truck/bus tires, to the concept, which is being pitched to car dealerships, municipalities, etc., throughout Europe.
The QuickScan device uses magnetic imaging to determine tire wear "automatically and instantaneously with millimeter precision," Michelin said.
In addition to the QuickScan hardware and roll-over measuring units, Michelin also is contributing its tire data-analysis expertise, which it said is supported by "proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms."
According to Michelin, a typical manual car inspection lasts about 30 minutes, 10% of which is dedicated to tire inspection.
By integrating QuickScan into the ProovStation concept, inspections can be cut to less than a minute for the entire vehicle, including just a few seconds on the tires, Michelin added.
