Aftermarket March 2023

26 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2023 TECHNICAL/AFTERMARKET OF THE FUTURE www.aftermarketonline.net CES launch for Tirestation - for automated tyre inspection Aside from the new car gadgetry and headline- grabbing smart home and health tech at CES 2023, there was also some pretty incredible garage equipment. For instance, Michelin and ProovStation unveiled the Tirestation, a magnetic scanner for “fast and reliable automated tire inspection.” The vehicle is driven through a scanning and photographic system that measures the tread depth to “millimeter precision in less than five seconds.” Then, based on “the data collected and powerful algorithms,” a report is generated to show the wear and highlight any potential vehicle geometry issues. This data can be used to upsell wheel alignment services or new tyres. TireStation is the result of a two- year partnership between Michelin and ProovStation. “In the future, tyre inspection will be mostly digital and automated,” said Sébastien Masseret, Business Manager at Michelin. “For the first time, our QuickScan technology is available in an integrated solution for automotive aftersales.” Cédric Bernard, CEO of ProovStation, added: “The objective of this digitalisation is to optimise each aftersales entry by offering the right service at the right time, and at the right price, while improving the customer experience.” As has become customary in January, a host of VMs, tier1 suppliers and automotive start- ups flocked to Las Vegas to showcase their latest wares at CES, “the most influential tech event in the world.” BMW grabbed the lion’s share of global coverage thanks to Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger joining BMW CEO Oliver Zipse on-stage to unveil the BMW i Vision Dee colour- changing car. There was the small matter of Honda and Sony teaming up to launch a whole new brand, Afeela, promising “the car of tomorrow” with first deliveries scheduled for 2026. On the connected car side, Google announced the release of new Android Auto software, with WhatsApp call functionality apparently coming soon. In terms of self-driving, ZF gave a world premiere to its Level 4 autonomous shuttle, and announced a new partnership with Beep for “several thousand” of them in the US. ZF’s autonomous driving system features the Virtual Driver software stack, developed in partnership with Oxfordshire-based Oxbotica. It consists of two major parts – the performance path and the safety path. The safety path monitors situations and defines ‘virtual guardrails’, while the performance path enables smooth driving. “We have everything to support our customers with holistic vehicle systems based on advanced high- performance controllers, intelligent sensors, smart actuators, connectivity and cloud solutions, and cutting-edge software and functions,” said Dr. Holger Klein, CEO of ZF Group. Then there was Korean company AIMMO’s announcement of “the world’s first AI-powered Autonomous Driving Data-as-a- Service” – ADaaS – designed “to overcome the industry-wide problem of excessive data collection that has constrained the progression and commercialization of AV technologies”. French manufacturing giant Plastic Omnium announced the creation of a new division, OP'n Soft, focused on “mobility solutions that are more electric, more connected, more autonomous and more shared”. There’s probably an acronym for that. Plastic O also showcased an eye-catching “smart bumper”, featuring embedded antennas to deliver “unequaled sensing faculties”, and announced a partnership with start-up Greenerwave, “to transform body panels into 4D imaging radar.” Sounds amazing. Another start-up, Exwayz, unveiled its new SLAM software, offering self-localisation accurate to 2cm “to simplify and accelerate 3D LiDAR integration into autonomous systems.” “The reality is that autonomy can only happen with robust, accurate, reliable and truly real-time algorithms, which are the critical lacking elements in currently available solutions,” said Exwayz CEO, Hassan Bouchiba. Oh, and there was an electric-powered flying car, the Aska A5. We’d expect nothing less. CES 2023: Next gen car tech and The Terminator Neil Kennett looks at cutting-edge auto tech coming to a workshop near you soon AFTERMARKET OF THE FUTURE A commentator on the UK aftermarket since before Concorde was grounded, Neil is Editor of Carsofthefuture .co.uk , providing news and views about driverless vehicles, and Director of Communications at Self- drivingpr.com, experts in automotive/autonomous media and public relations