RoboTire’s system at work changing tires in a Discount Tire. | Source: RoboTire

RoboTire announced that it’s installed and started operating its system at a Discount Tire in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The system can replace four tires on a passenger vehicle in less than 25 minutes. 

At the Discount Tire, the RoboTire System will remove, lift and install tire and wheel assemblies. RoboTire hopes that its system will reduce technician injuries that can be caused by repetitive heavy lifting. The system will be overseen by Discount Tire’s technicians, who will also provide pressure monitoring and balancing services. 

“At Discount Tire, our priority is to continually innovate on the services we offer to give the best possible experience to our customers,” Tom Williams , chief experience officer at Discount Tire, said. “We are excited to be the first to market in our space with RoboTire’s technology. With our Discount Tire expert people operating RoboTire systems, we will make the workplace safer and the experience easier as we hope to continue to reduce customer wait times and take care of more and more customers.”

The RoboTire System is designed to be easily integrated into existing tire shops. The company’s fourth generation system is at work in Discount Tire. The system uses machine learning, artificial intelligence, high-definition cameras and the company’s proprietary software to change tires. 

“Discount Tire has been a proven leader in the tire and wheel industry for more than 60 years,” Victor Darolfi, founder and CEO of RoboTire, said. “We are excited to expand our partnership with them to enhance safety and efficiency in their stores and help increase the number of customers that can be serviced on any given day. RoboTire’s systems will drastically change how tire stores and service centers like Discount Tire approach changing tires, employee and vehicle safety, and customer satisfaction.”

Discount Tire is an investor in RoboTire, and participated in the company’s $7.5 million Series A round that closed in October 2021. Other investors included Automotive Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners and 640 Oxford Ventures. 

RoboTire was founded in 2018, and is based in Detroit, Michigan. Its goal is to build and deploy robots that service vehicles faster and safer. 

Brianna Wessling is an Associate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, and is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas. She can be reached at [email protected]

Just another way to replace or supplement human labor, which reduces costs and puts more people out of work. Of course the technology is remarkable, but it puts dollars ahead what is best for workers. Sure wish we had strong union structure to balance corporate greed.

Alan, thanks for reading and commenting. I’m not saying this is an apples-to-apples comparison, but I live in a small town with two mechanics. I recently switched from one to the other as the one I historically used barely answers their phone now. They’re too busy and can’t find enough people who want to work there. I don’t know the reason they can’t find workers – low pay, lack of skilled mechanics, both – but they’ve lost my business going forward. Perhaps if they had a technology or a tool, in this case a robotics system, to augment their workforce they wouldn’t have lost my business.

You know what else replaces human labor and puts people out of work? Fertilizers and agricultural machinery. In the USA, it used to be that about 90% of all Americans were farmers. But fertilizers and mechanized equipment made their farm labor unnecessary.

Looks to me like the employees would love a tool that removed repetitive, heavy tasks and reduced injury.

Yes, this is an area that OSHA might possibly focus on in the future, heavy lifting repetitive task injuries.

How to destroy the work force 101. Won’t be surprised if it will strip studs and bolts. Won’t be able to install spacers or hub rings.

They can’t find people because people know they are being replaced. Your comment lacks all the wisdom of an adult. Time to reassess your life.

Anyone who thinks automation puts people out of work clearly hasn’t been paying attention to history. It often creates more opportunities, often without the back-breaking or mind-numbing aspects. ATMs were going to put back tellers out of their jobs, yet there are more people than ever behind the counter or desk at a bank. They no longer do as much of the mundane tasks as cashing checks and counting bills, but have time to help customers with more lucrative financial products. Instead of techs humping tires around, which, in most cases is menial work compared to their other automotive technician skills, they can go work on more stimulating diagnostic work…and make more money doing so.

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