Changing a car tire is one of those tasks that is repeated every day in the workshop and whose method has barely changed over the decades: raise the car, remove each wheel and take it to the tire changer to be able to remove the tire cover. American company Automated Tire wants to change that routine with a robot that works directly on the wheel, without removing it from the car.
Direct work on axis. The automatic tire robot is called SmartBay and it is able to work directly on the axle without removing the wheel as before, in fact, everything is done with the car placed on the lift. First, mechanical arms are placed on both wheels on the same axle at the same time and simultaneously remove both tires, leaving the rim in place. Then they installed the new cover and aligned the steering. In total, it takes about 30 minutes to change four tires with the machine.
People are still missing. Although the process reduces physical effort, a mechanic is still required to operate the robot. The operator must lift the vehicle to the required height, remove the tires from the robot and install new ones with the required lubricant.
From that point, the system regains control, supported by AI algorithms, to assemble the covers and balance the assembly. The mechanism is even responsible for fixing the appropriate counterweight for each tire.
Yes, but. Changing four tires in half an hour doesn’t necessarily represent an improvement over an experienced mechanic. The main advantage is the work capacity: the automatic tire maintains that a single operator can supervise three robots at the same time.
Workers may perform the manual tasks of a robot while others perform the automated parts of assembly or calibration. This way, the business is able to handle more wheel changes per day without hiring more staff. Ultimately, it’s a way to replace employees with machines, not just all employees.
A fare for large volumes. Auto doesn’t sell the tire machine, it rents it to the store for $4,900 a month. This is a significant investment that will hardly fit into a small workshop. Its solution is more oriented towards workshops with a large volume of tire changes such as specialized centers.
Picture | Auto Tires, Youtube
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