Semi-Autonomous Tire Bolting for Letterkenny Army Depot

Letterkenny Army Depot processes a variety of tires for the various military vehicles fabricated by its Artisans. This is an operation that requires full-time support in order to keep up with the required tire assembly rates for a variety of tires. Presently, this process is manual and involves significant effort to identify a tire design, align the associated tire bolts, and apply torque to tighten the bolts into place. The reliance on human hands in this process today presents many opportunities for pinch points and hand injuries that can cause harm to Artisans and delay tire production schedules. When pinch points and torque are present in the same application, the resulting combination is particularly hazardous. The manual process of identifying and managing variations in tire design also leaves room for human error and can result in rework or incorrect tire assembly if a certain tire is not assembled to proper specifications. Nexterity, Inc. proposes a Phase I feasibility study to design a custom AI-enabled tool to expedite the tire bolting process and make it hands-free for Artisans.