UVeye’s camera-based AI technology will inspect a car’s underbody and tires.

UVeye is a computer vision company that develops automated inspection systems for vehicles, powered by artificial intelligence and proprietary hardware. It announced Tuesday that Georgia-based V.I.P. Auctions will be the first remarketing group in the U.S. to utilize its artificial intelligence technology to support inspections of pre-owned vehicles. (Auto Remarketing)

How it works

Developed by UVeye, the Helios underbody and Artemis tire-inspection systems installed at V.I.P. Auctions in Cumming, Georgia, debuted in North America at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

They are components of the company’s deep-learning-driven “Inspection as a Service” unified platform. It provides an objective, scalable and efficient standard for identifying issues in vehicles as they move through the automotive lifecycle.

The systems incorporate proprietary algorithms, cloud architecture, sensor fusion, artificial intelligence, and machine learning technologies to generate reports on the condition of the vehicle.

The UVeye Helios system is an automated process that uses several high-resolution cameras that take thousands of images per second of the vehicle’s underbody.

The system analyses the images and highlights damaged areas, missing parts, and other defects. The technicians and inspectors can therefore focus on these critical action points immediately, saving time during the inspection.

Meanwhile, the UVeye Artemis system assesses tire quality by capturing images of the sidewall and tread as the vehicle passes by.

Artemis reports on a tire’s overall condition, including tire pressure, tread depth, wheel scratches, sidewall damage, abrasions, and outside shoulder damage. It can read and recognize a tire’s brand, size-load speed ratings, and DOT nomenclature within seconds.

Savings in time and money

According to Jim Smith, founder and CEO of V.I.P. Auctions, the UVeye camera-based artificial-intelligence technology will save time, reduce costs, document a vehicle’s condition, and also set new inspection standards for the automotive remarketing industry.

A key area, and usually a blind spot, is a car’s underbody. The area can yield significant clues about the car’s true condition and how it has been driven. These include unusual rust, leaks, cracks, missing parts, modifications, and other discrepancies.

Similarly, a factual assessment of a car’s tires and wheels can make dramatic revisions to a car’s purported valuation.

“There always have been two major areas missing from vehicle-condition reports provided to auction customers – detailed evaluations of a vehicle’s underbody and its tires,” says Smith. “Helios and Artemis will solve that problem by clearly documenting with certainty the condition of each vehicle’s tires and undercarriage.”

Manual vehicle inspections can take up to 20 minutes or more. In contrast, the new UVeye inspections are complete in a matter of seconds.

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