Israel’s UVeye showcases new Artemis tyre inspection system at IAA 2019

UVeye, a provider of high-end solutions for automatic external inspection of vehicles, presents its new Artemis tyre inspection system for the first time in Europe at the IAA 2019 in Frankfurt.

Artemis is suitable for both commercial vehicle and car fleets. The aim is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of tyre inspection and vehicle safety by using AI and deep learning. The system is being used for the first time at Kavim, an Israeli bus company. In addition to Artemis, UVeye offers its digital inspection solutions in the form of two other modules: the ‘Helios’ underbody scanner is available in stationary and mobile versions, and ‘Atlas’ is used to inspect the top of the vehicle using a 360-degree method.

UVeye’s three modules currently available on the market are all AI and deep-learning-based and can be used individually or in combination, thus automating external inspection throughout the entire life cycle of a vehicle along the entire automotive value chain - from the delivery of parts and components to the assembly line, through checking during production, to used car inspection. At speeds of up to 30 kph in the drive-through process, oil leaks, dents and scratches on the bodywork, as well as damage to tyres, brakes, chassis or exhaust can be detected automatically - down to a minimum size of one millimetre. UVeye claims that the all-round scan of the exterior of the vehicle takes a few seconds and delivers extremely accurate and meaningful results in a very short time. UVeye uses proprietary hardware and software in the form of high-resolution cameras, sensor fusion technology and AI-based image processing algorithms.

The Helios mobile underbody scanner, which is also being showcased at the IAA, uses area scanning technology and includes five high-resolution cameras. UVeye claims that within fractions of a second, these cameras take several thousand pictures and send the data to the cloud, where they are linked together and compared with a database.

Depending on the configuration chosen by the customer, the system delivers a lifelike image of the underbody that includes automatic marking of potential problem areas. The operator can manually make further markings, add comments and select the severity of the defect from a suggestion list.

Founded in 2016, the Israeli start-up originally developed its proprietary hard and software technologies for the security sector but is now in talks with more than 20 strategic companies from the automotive industry for various applications. Just recently, the company received fresh capital amounting to 31 million US dollars (Rs 222 crores) from various investors including Volvo Cars and Toyota Tsusho. Both companies have not only invested financially in UVeye but will also make active use of the start-up's technologies. Volvo Cars intends to use UVeye's inspection system internationally at its manufacturing sites, at its dealers and in the aftermarket. Toyota Tsusho also will introduce the UVeye system into its used car network, which will cover the entire Japanese market. In addition to Volvo Cars and Toyota Tsusho, UVeye also cooperates with Skoda, Daimler and other leading vehicle manufacturers. UVeye is currently conducting two feasibility studies with Daimler and will open a subsidiary in Germany this year.

Amir Hever, CEO of UVeye, said: “Today we are active in two areas: the Homeland Security sector serves over 80 customer locations worldwide, including embassies, seaports, airports, military bases, power plants and prisons. Our automotive sector mainly supports OEMs. But our technologies are also relevant for car rental companies; bus, truck and car fleet operators; insurance companies, and the aftermarket. It is our declared goal to establish our integrated platform in these sectors as the global standard for external vehicle inspection."

Also read: Volvo Cars invests in Israeli tech start-ups MGGo and UVeye