Yokohama Rubber advances generative AI system for tire R&D

Hiratsuka, Japan – Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) has started full-scale operation of a proprietary generative AI system that used ‘retrieval-augmented generation’ (RAG) to search through accumulated technical documents and present responses based on the contents.

The system, stated YRC, “contributes to further accelerating and enhancing tire development by providing rapid and accurate access to technical information necessary for decision-making during the tire development process, including material development.”

The Japanese tire & rubber products maker said it developed the new system to expand the practical environment of its proprietary HAICoLab AI utilisation framework established in October 2020.

The group, it noted, had previously developed AI systems that predict a rubber compound’s physical properties and tire characteristics, generate new rubber compounds, and support mould design, said its 28 Aug release.

The focus has now been broadened to include technical knowledge that developers need to make decisions during the tire development process – as found, for example, in regulatory documents, procedure manuals, technical reports, and case studies.

As YRC explains, development staff using this new system input questions tailored to the development’s objectives and situation, and the generative AI searches for the most relevant information from internal technical documents and provides responses based on that content.

Staff have also created a “mechanism in which an implemented AI agent grasps the intent of the staff’s questions and enhances the accuracy of its response by autonomously repeating the process of planning searches, retrieving information, and evaluating the results.”

And, by displaying links to the original documents that serve as the basis for responses, the system enables staff to verify the basis and appropriateness of those responses and use them in interpretation and decision-making.

The new mechanism "uses domain knowledge accumulated in technical documents with AI, thereby expanding the tire development environment based on HAICoLab,” concluded YRC, which aims to leverage these capabilities to develop innovative products, processes, and services.