RoboTire is a Tire Changing Robot That Can Work Around the Clock

image credit: TechCrunch

We’ve all been there. Our car needs some work and we are stuck in the service station for hours. Even minor things like changing tires could seemingly take forever. One company is turning to robotics to make changing out tires much quicker and cheaper.

San Carlos, California based RoboTire has teamed with Mitsubishi Robotics to develop a system that can change out tires in under 10 minutes.  A human operator usually takes about an hour for a set of four tires. Of course, the tire changing robot can work around the clock without a break.

The idea came to RoboTire founder Victor Darolfi when he was stuck sitting in a service station waiting room for three hours. Robots put tires on cars in the factory so Darolfi figured why couldn’t the same technology be extended to service stations.

Tire Changing Robot Costs $250,000

As far as costs go, each RoboTire system costs around $250,000. Each tire will cost from $5-$7. According to the company, the robot could generate around $10,000 a month earning back the cost of the unit in two years.

RoboTire’s first partner is San Carlos, Calif.-based auto repair shop, Toole’s Garage. They are currently in talks with some major automotive companies such as Bridgestone.  The company plans to manufacture the robot tire systems in Detroit.

Check out our articles on synthetic skin that allows robots to feel pain and AI helping to detect dangerous driving.