Hankook Tire applies AI to tyre compound development

• Predicting the characteristics of a compound through artificial intelligence analysis, without actual testing
• Expected to reduce the development process, which used to take up to three years, by about 50%
• Improved accuracy through collaboration with the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, increasing reliability to more than 95%

Seoul, Korea, 7th November 2019 – Leading global premium tyre maker, Hankook Tire, (President & CEO Hyun Bum Cho) announced that the company had shown tangible results in its efforts for technology based innovation and digital transformation, by developing the ‘Virtual Compound Design (VCD) system’, a predictive model for tyre compound properties using artificial intelligence.

The VCD system uses technology that predicts the characteristics of compounds and chooses the optimum combination of materials through artificial intelligence analysis, based on accumulated data, without any actual testing during the tyre compound development.

The development process of tyres is very complicated as the tyre compound, a mixture of more than 15 types of materials such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber and carbon black, has different properties depending on diverse variables, including temperature, the facilities, order of combination, and pressure, as well as the ratio of combinations of each material. Generally, it takes six months to three years to develop a new compound, but this period is expected to be reduced by 50% by using artificial intelligence.

The new development system operates within a cloud platform by creating a 'Digital Twin', a twin of real-life objects, which reflects the results derived from virtual simulations into real life situations, and uses both real world scenarios and virtual reality to work out the best results. Tens of thousands of units of data are analysed through cloud computing platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google’s TensorFlow, an artificial intelligence engine, thus continuing the evolution of the results through machine learning.

Hankook Tire's efforts for innovation started as an internal research project and have been accelerated and solidified by collaboration with Korea’s top research institute. Hankook signed an agreement with the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) earlier this year for research on future technologies, and the cooperation on this project has stemmed from that agreement. Since then, the accuracy of data analysis has been greatly improved, and currently shows an increased reliability of more than 95%.

Successfully applying artificial intelligence in predicting compound properties, Hankook Tire is planning to expand the technology to the entire process of developing tyres, ranging from material selection, design, tyre testing, and production, including mass production. In addition, the company plans to accelerate the introduction of data-based innovative technologies based on accumulated data throughout the tyre industry ecosystem, ranging from materials supply and demand, design, R&D, testing, production, distribution (SCM), and customer usage, without any limitations on development areas.

Along with its change in mission statement, made in May this year, Hankook Tire has been strengthening its future competitiveness through technology-based innovations. The company will also secure future-oriented innovative technologies by utilising a global R&D network built around the Hankook Technodome, its state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) facility. Along with reinforcing the tyre business's qualitative growth and competitiveness, Hankook Tire is solidifying its position as a leading global company in the automotive industry, by boosting its new growth system centred on technology, brand, and network.

Source: Hankook