- Fasep, an Italian tire rotating service equipment company, has released what may be the first rotating machine with RFID functionality.
- The V788 Balancer automatically identifies tires with UHF RFID tags, and connects the operator with data about the service requirements, while also creating a digital record of the tire’s service.
Tire servicing processes haven’t changed much in the past few decades. Equipment can provide the mechanical balancing process as tires are mounted on wheels, but the data has to be measured and input by an operator.
But with RFID technology being built into tires by major tire manufacturers (led by Michelin) opportunities to collect data about tires as they are use, serviced, repaired or balanced, are growing.
With that in mind, service equipment manufacturer Fasep has released what it says it the world’s first wheel balancer with an integrated RFID tag reading system. For half a century, the Italian based-company has provided its innovation in mechanics and electronics applied to wheel balancers and wheel aligners. Now it is offering a way to create and access digital records of the tire, automatically.
Taking Advantage of Tire Manufacturers’ RFID Tags Adoption
The system identifies each tagged tire as it is mounted on the V788 balancer and displays details about that tire for system users. Operators then use that data to adjust the settings and ensure proper balance of the tire on the wheel before it is installed on a car. The cloud-based software stores that data, creating a permanent record of what took place with that tire, explained Fabio Boni, Fasep’s sales director.
Global tire manufacturers have been testing and building passive RAIN UHF RFID tags into some of their products over the past two years. Today, all commercial tires from Michelin are tagged with RFID while domestic tires are rolling out as well. The goal is to make them identifiable as they move through a complex supply chain, use case and ultimately into recycling or retreading for further use, as well as proper end-of-life disposal.
Eye on DPP
Part of the RFID tagging push is being driven by Europe’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements. The DPP requires that future tires be uniquely identifiable to ensure their proper use and disposal.
In parallel, the tire industry’s Global Data Service Organization (GDSO), an international standards nonprofit, has developed a platform to allow tire data sharing, that starts from a serialized tire’s identity—using RFID or other technologies. Additionally, GDSO is working to expand a service it launched to collect information throughout the tire’s life cycle.
First RFID Project
To leverage these new developments around a more digitized tire, Fasep saw an opportunity to use the RFID data being deployed by tire brands to bring further digital record about not only when tires are purchased or repaired, but when they are mounted.
Fasep wheel balancers are often used by automotive shops that install tires on vehicles and wheel manufacturing sites that assemble the tire onto the wheel itself. Traditionally workers took their own measurements, using tire gauges and adjusted the tire as its spin and balance were measured.
With the latest balancer, Fasep has installed a RAIN UHF RFID tag reader from Murata to read the tag of the tire when it is mounted on the system.
How it Works
When the tire is in place in the balancer and the operators presses start, a hood drops over the tire and the tag is read. The technology is designed so that the tag of the tire on the machinery is the only one being read, even if other tagged tires are in the vicinity.
The unique ID from the tire’s tag is then sent to Fasep’s cloud-based data base, which has the ability to link to data from the GDSO system provided by the tire industry. It also collects ID data directly from the tire brands.
Once the tag ID is linked to the related data, information about that tire is displayed on the equipment screen including its make, model, dimensions and diameter.
Creating a Record as Part of the Tire’s History
The initial value of the RFID integration provides a more automatic and fail-proof method for identifying a tire during the wheel balancing job. For those using the system, they not only have automatic data to prevent any errors, they also can confirm that the tire is authentic and not a counterfeit.
A counterfeit tire would either have no RFID tag, or the tag ID would not match the tire itself.
However, the technology can help provide a more complete picture of a tire’s life. Each time the tag is read, that data is updated in Fasep’s software and could be linked to other software platforms, including that of the GDSO.
In that way, the tire’s mounting and balancing is recorded permanently.
Winter and Summer Storage
The data also can be employed for tracking processes such as removal and storage of tires as the weather changes. In Europe, many companies offer storage of winter and summer tires and drivers or fleet managers swap out tires with the seasons. These “tire hotels” provided by the tire shops need to be identified to provide proper storage records and to be properly returned to the right vehicle.
With RFID data, Boni pointed out, “when you are getting your tires back in April, you will get exactly your tires” with a digital record to prove it.
If tires go through other processes, such as retreading, that data could be stored with the tag ID in the software.
“You can trace how many times this tire has been mounted and dismounted, what is the current situation of the tire because of mounting and dismounting, and eventually even (retreading),” Boni said.
Becoming Part of a Digital Ecosystem
Fasap offers its cloud-based software that accesses data from the GDSO system.
The company recently demonstrated the technology at Automechanika Frankfurt and at AAPEX in Las Vegas. While the company is demonstrating the new RFID-enabled equipment now, commercial roll out will take place early next year.
Fasep are planning to offer companies the ability to retrofit their existing equipment with an RFID reader. In the long term, Fasep may include RFID in all its equipment to serve as part of the growing ecosystem of tire management.
“Now there’s the ability eventually to know everything about the life of a tire— every time it’s removed from the vehicle, every time it’s returned, every time it’s regrooved, everything,” said Boni.
“With the software, with the networking availability, users can view data not only for the purposes of wheel balancing but to make the wheel balancer one key point for the traceability of the tire’s digital record.”