Bridgestone’s autonomous journey gains traction at Goodwood
Bridgestone has helped bring a vision of autonomous driving to life for thousands of onlookers to appreciate, in a unique glimpse into the future of mobility at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The tyre manufacturer partnered with The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) at the first UK showing of its latest autonomous driving technology. At the same time, members from three IAC university teams are on the ground conducting scans and digitally mapping the Goodwood Hillclimb to support IAC’s 2024 return for a historic autonomous hillclimb challenge.
Bridgestone formed a partnership with the IAC in 2020 to supply tyres and technical expertise for the world’s first autonomous high-speed racing competition on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval.
Bridgestone’s North Region Vice President Andrea Manenti said: “Our work with the Indy Autonomous Challenge, its partners and its participating teams is part of a shared passion to push the boundaries of self-driving car technology and increase public awareness of the positive impact that automation can have on society.
“These efforts closely align our vision at Bridgestone to create new value as a sustainable solutions company. This vision extends beyond tyres to advance sustainable technologies and digital platforms that support a world of future mobility that includes electric, autonomous and connected vehicles.
“Through the IAC, we’re able to help university engineering teams understand the role tyres play on vehicle performance and how they can be incorporated as part of the design and development process for autonomous technologies.”
The IAC is exhibiting as part of the festival’s Future Lab area, which gives an insight into the future of mobility with concepts that may become a reality in our lifetime.
The Indy Autonomous Challenge is based in Indiana, U.S. and organises a series of competitions among full-scale autonomous racecars. Last month, the IAC announced that team PoliMOVE won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, held at the Monza “Temple of Speed.” The historic feat took place as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show (MIMO) at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Bridgestone’s involvement in the Indy Autonomous Challenge also aligns with its Bridgestone E8 Commitment that serves as the axis to drive management while earning the trust of future generations.
The E8 Commitment consists of eight Bridgestone-like values starting with the letter ‘E’ (Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment) that Bridgestone will commit to creating together with employees, society, partners and customers to realize a sustainable society.
The sponsorship aligns with: ‘Energy’: Committed to the realisation of a carbon neutral mobility society’, ‘Ecology’: Committed to advancing sustainable tyre technologies and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations” and ‘Efficiency’: Committed to maximizing productivity through the advancement of mobility”.
Media information: For more information about this press release, or if you have any more questions, please call Ben Smallman at Ben Smallman PR on 07833 463195 or email ben@bensmallmanpr.com
About Bridgestone in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa
Bridgestone in Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa (Bridgestone EMIA) is the regional Strategic Business Unit of Bridgestone Corporation, a global leader in tyres and sustainable mobility solutions.
Headquartered in Zaventem (Belgium), Bridgestone EMIA employs more than 20,000 people and conducts business in 40 countries across the region. Bridgestone EMIA operates 16 tyre plants, a major R&D centre, and a proving ground, and serves its customers in an extensive retail network with thousands of touchpoints.
Bridgestone offers a diverse portfolio of premium tyres, tyre technologies and advanced mobility solutions. The company’s vision is to provide social and customer value as a sustainable solutions company. The Bridgestone E8 Commitment is a broad, global corporate commitment that clearly defines the value the company is promising to deliver to society, our customers and future generations in eight focus areas; Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease and Empowerment. These provide a compass to guide strategic priorities, decision making and actions throughout every area of the business.
For more information about Bridgestone in EMIA, please visit www.bridgestone-emia.com and press.bridgestone-emia.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About the IAC:
The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) organizes racing competitions among university-affiliated teams from around the world to program fully autonomous racecars and compete in a series of history-making events at iconic tracks. Based in Indiana, the IAC is working to establish a hub for performance automation in the state and is harnessing the power of innovative competitions to attract the best and the brightest minds from around the globe to further state-of the-art technology in safety and performance of automated vehicles. The IAC started as a $1 million prize competition with 31 university teams signing up to compete more than three years ago, representing top engineering and technology universities from 11 countries including 15 U.S. states.