Volvo announced Thursday it will begin employing the UVeye inspection platform — a machine learning AI system that can scan an entire car for problems in mere seconds — to dealers on the East Coast with plans to expand to all 280 of its U.S. dealerships.
The technology was born out of necessity, according to Car And Driver. The Israeli-based company first developed the system to more throughly check for bombs in cars. However UVeye quickly realised that the technology has wider applications in the automotive world. Volvo realised it, too, and invested in UVeye way back in 2019. Those investments have paid off it seems.
The automated system pairs high-speed cameras with machine learning and AI to identify problems in the blink on an eye. UVeye is actually three parts named after the ancient Greek gods Atlas, Artemis and Helios. Here’s what Volvo says each systems does:
- Helios – An underbody scanner that detects a wide range of problems from frame damage to oil leakage and corrosion.
- Artemis – A tire system that quickly identifies tire brand, basic specifications, air pressure, tread depth, sidewall damage and even whether a vehicle’s tires are mismatched.
- Atlas – A system that provides 360-degree scans of the exterior and detects damage such as dents, scratches and rust on critical components such as bumpers, mirrors, door locks, grilles and windows.
Just like the real Greek gods of yore! OK, maybe the naming doesn’t make a ton of sense, but it does sound cool. The system will save both mechanics and owners a ton of time, identifying potential problems while competing a holistic check of the car in mere seconds. The three systems create a “health report” every time the car is scanned, compete with digital images available to both owner and technician.
Of course my first reaction upon reading the news was that “Volvo has med beds for cars!” and that is because reading about QAnon has rotted major parts of my brain. Still, this is an excellent way of preventing problems before they become dangerous, something safety centric Volvo owners certainly value. It also lets the technician show owners the problems clearly while saving Volvo on costly trade-ins.