68 | AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017GLEANINGS International
A
t the Volkswagen
Information Technology
Centre Munich (Data Lab)
an international expert
team that includes IT experts,
robotics specialists, data scientists,
programmers, physicists and
mathematicians, is preparing the
company for the future. The team
pursues questions like: How do
people think? On what basis do
they take decisions? And how canartificial intelligence help them in
the future? On dozens of monitors,
code lines, graphs and 3-D diagrams
flash across the screen. What is seen
in machine language could help
accelerate corporate processes,
optimize traffic flows and guide
autonomous vehicles safely through
traffic in the future.
“We are developing learning systems.
We are exploring and creating
algorithms that can identify andpredict patterns and laws more
and more reliably,” Prof Patrick van
der Smagt, who is responsible for
Artificial Intelligence (AI)research
at the Data Lab, said. One of the
areas where he and his team are
active is deep neural networks. In
these networks, the algorithm gains
information in several steps and
compares it with what has already
been learnt. This way, the system can
detect patterns and laws more and
more reliably. “We are carrying out
fundamental research in this field,”
says van der Smagt. “Volkswagen is
at the leading edge,” he said.Hakan Duman, who heads the data
science and applied AI section of
the Data Lab, and his team are
concerned with the application of
such advanced AI systems. “We test
AI systems and always ask a number
of questions: Where can AI systems
be used effectively? What corporate
processes and tasks are well-suited
for the use of AI and how can this
approach be implemented?”
Duman’s team is working on a
number of different projects mainly
focusing on applications and
processes within the company. These
include AI systems for intelligent
robots which are to work hand-in-
hand with human beings in the future.
Another project deals with the next
generation of traffic flow optimization.
The team is also working on
possibilities of protecting sensitive
data from attack by hackers using
advanced AI systems.T
he Goodyear Tyre and
Rubber Company will acquire
Ventech Systems GmbH,
a leader in automated
tyre inspection technology, from
GrenzebachMaschinenbau GmbH.
Ventech Systems, based in Dorsten,
Germany, founded in 2006, provides
fully-automated tyre inspection
system that quickly and easily checks
tyre pressure, tread depth and vehicle
weight for buses, trucks, cars and
other vehicles.
“Over the past three years, our
Goodyear Proactive Solutions
business has collaborated with
Ventech Systems to integrate its data
gathering and analysis capabilities
into our fleet management solution,”Christopher Helsel, Goodyear Vice
President and Chief Technology
Officer, said. “Feedback from our
fleet customers has been excellent,
and we view this as an important
opportunity to enhance our service
and value proposition for customers.”
Truck tyre care and maintenance
is one of the largest contributors
to commercial fleet uptime and
total cost of operations. Last year,
Goodyear launched Goodyear
Proactive Solutions in the Europe,
Middle East and Africa region to
provide a full suite of demonstrated
Vehicle-To-Fleet operations
management solutions supporting
fleet owners to improve vehicle and
fleet safety, decrease fuel use, reducetheir carbon footprint and support the
digital transformation of their fleet.The acquisition of Ventech Systems
will further expand Goodyear
Proactive Solutions’ commercial
offerings with an efficient, user-
friendly closed loop service enabling
fleet operators to measure tyre
pressure, tread depth and vehicle
weight on all their vehicles each time
they enter or exit their depot.In addition to its Goodyear
Proactive Solutions mobile tyre/fleet
management offerings, Goodyear
is also working with automakers to
provide tyre information to vehicle
control systems to enhance safety
and performance.Volkswagen Leads Research
On Artificial Intelligence
APA Bureau
APA Bureau
Goodyear To Acquire Ventech Systems
Volkswagen Information Technology Centre Munich