Yokohama, dotData developing AI agent for tire R&D

Hiratsuka, Japan – Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) and US-based AI specialist dotData have started the joint development of an AI agent to support engineers in manufacturing research and development.

The project combines technical documents such as design information and experimental reports, the knowledge accumulated by engineers, and features derived from measurement data by dotData's "automatic feature design technology," said dotData 16 Sept.

This will create a system in which an AI agent presents engineers with decision-making information according to the context, such as the purpose, situation, and constraints of the research and development.

The aim is to develop an AI system capable of understanding “the objectives, subject and constraints” of individual R&D projects and searching for and organising relevant information accordingly, said dotData.

The system will present engineers with data-derived features as “material for judgement,” alongside comments from different perspectives and potential risks.

Rather than providing engineers with a single “correct answer”, the system will operate on a “human-in-the-loop” basis, with engineers retaining responsibility for final interpretation and decision-making.

YRC and dotData are initially testing the functions required and the technical feasibility of the system before considering full-scale application in R&D.

The companies will also test a system allowing engineers to tell the AI their analytical objectives and areas of interest, with the agent assisting with the operations and settings needed to explore data.

The project builds on YRC's existing use of dotData within its HAICoLab framework, launched in 2020 to promote “collaboration between humans and AI”.

YRC has already applied the technology to tire design and rubber mixing, combining automatically identified data features with engineers’ interpretation to generate new findings and hypotheses.

"We believe that by utilising AI agents, engineers will be able to access perspectives beyond their own experience and examine hypotheses from a more multifaceted viewpoint," said Shiji Fujita, executive officer, head of research and advanced development division, YRC.