“Smart tire building … inspired by AI” at Tire Tech Expo 2024

VMI’s theme for this year’s Tire Technology Expo is “Smart tire building … inspired by AI”. Smart solutions that optimize tire building and address the challenges our industry is facing. New advanced vision systems, self-learning AI algorithms and self-adjusting processes contributing to improved flexibility, higher accuracy and consistency.

This Expo, VMI presented this new concept and introduced the first smart options on the VMI MAXX tire building machine:

Foreign object detection
This in-line, high speed detection system utilizes an array of cameras to detect foreign objects in tread material. A superfast AI algorithm analyzes images in real-time which ensures extremely high levels of accuracy and minimizes the number of false-positive alarms, resulting in optimized levels of productivity, lower scrap rates and minimizes usage of energy and raw materials.

Intelligent process control
VMI machines are highly sophisticated and utilize active control methods to control the process of positioning and splicing components that make-up a tire. The trend to thinner gauge components produced from sustainable materials brings new challenges in tire production. VMI has therefore developed amongst others contactless length measurement of components, which in combination with AI based real-time splice adjustment algorithms result in new levels of process control.

Smart Run Empty (SRE)
In order to improve machine utilization as tire factories become more complex and batch sizes become smaller, VMI developed SRE, which is a suite of smart software solutions designed to deliver “smart run empty”. The system coordinates each production run with the materials input in a tire building machine. This ensures that materials are fully utilized, with no wastage, while also enabling more efficient change over of cassettes as the machine moves from one SKU to another.