In the near future, a robot may be fixing your car‘s flat tire.
A San Francisco-based startup named PitPro Automation recently installed a tire-changing robot in a Calgary tire shop. The device features two cube-shaped robots that move along a track and use sensors and robotic arms to locate and store lug nuts. In all, the machine can complete a full tire-changing job in 15 minutes.
Will this put a lot of tire changers out of work? The founder, Jeremy Conrad, told TechCrunch the bigger problem is that shops can’t find workers in the first place. Calling the work of changing tires “backbreaking,” he said the jobs have become so unpopular, “one shop manager was telling me they had to get special permission to pay more because a Panda Express opened across the street and it took about half their employees.”
PitPro is looking to put more of its technology in chain stores, since their layouts are more standardized and they can help the company with mass deployment. The company also has an eye on the Canadian market, where changing tires as winter comes and goes is a common practice.
In the near future, a robot may be fixing your car‘s flat tire.
A San Francisco-based startup named PitPro Automation recently installed a tire-changing robot in a Calgary tire shop. The device features two cube-shaped robots that move along a track and use sensors and robotic arms to locate and store lug nuts. In all, the machine can complete a full tire-changing job in 15 minutes.
Will this put a lot of tire changers out of work? The founder, Jeremy Conrad, told TechCrunch the bigger problem is that shops can’t find workers in the first place. Calling the work of changing tires “backbreaking,” he said the jobs have become so unpopular, “one shop manager was telling me they had to get special permission to pay more because a Panda Express opened across the street and it took about half their employees.”
PitPro is looking to put more of its technology in chain stores, since their layouts are more standardized and they can help the company with mass deployment. The company also has an eye on the Canadian market, where changing tires as winter comes and goes is a common practice.