E-Solutions Unveils Smartphone Tread Depth Check Tech

March 23, 2021

E-Solutions Professionals (ESP), a business-to-business software provider, says it has developed a technology that enables tire tread depth checks by smartphone.

The company's Monocular Tread Depth Reader uses artificial intelligence and "modern machine learning to create neural networks that enable it to calculate depth from a single camera lens."

The device - which will be available to tire dealerships in May 2021 - was developed with help from Precision Automotive Equipment in Australia and Hunter Engineering Co.'s Quick Tread Edge drive-over scanner.

Taran Marley, head of the ESP's artificial intelligence unit, says the "aim was to make it as simple as possible for people to test the tread depth of their tires and to encourage them to visit their local tire shop and replace tires before their tread becomes dangerously low.

"We did research where we asked people how they would know if their tires needed to be replaced," says Marley. "At best, people would say that they would look at the tires and hazard a guess and they would take the vehicle to a tire shop, if they were concerned."

The technology will have applications for fleet managers, as well, according to ESP officials. "It will mean being able to detect tire defects and low tread depth and potentially - as we develop it - flat tires and bad alignment."