Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
Hankook Tire equips Hyundai Rotem's firefighting robot with airless tires
Hankook Tire & Technology's next-generation airless tire i-Flex / Courtesy of Hankook Tire & Technology
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hankook Tire & Technology said Tuesday it is supplying its airless "i-Flex" tires for a new unmanned firefighting robot built with Hyundai Rotem to battle high-risk blazes in underground parking garages.
The robot is built on Hyundai Rotem's HR-Sherpa, the company's first domestically developed multipurpose unmanned vehicle, and is equipped with a 65-millimeter high-performance water cannon, a camera for improved visibility, a self-spraying system and remote-control functions.
Hankook Tire and Hyundai Rotem spent about five years jointly developing the tire, which uses a double-arch structure designed to support heavy loads and disperse compressive force evenly, the company said.
An outer arch absorbs shocks from uneven, off-road terrain, while an inner arch reduces vibration transmitted to the vehicle's drivetrain, with a hinge structure connecting the two. Because the tire is airless, it requires no air-pressure maintenance and eliminates the risk of punctures or air loss, the company said.
Robots equipped with the tire have already been deployed at disaster sites, including a factory fire in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, in January and an industrial complex fire in Daejeon's Daedeok District.
One robot each is currently stationed with the Seoul metropolitan area's special rescue unit under the National 119 Rescue Headquarters, a special rescue unit covering the country's southeastern Yeongnam region, the Hwaseong fire station in Gyeonggi Province, and the South Chungcheong Province fire headquarters.
Hankook Tire has developed airless tire technology since 2010 through government-funded research projects. The i-Flex was first unveiled at CES 2022 and later that year was fitted onto Hyundai Rotem's multipurpose unmanned ground vehicle for military use at the Defense Expo Korea 2022.
The company said it plans to expand its airless tire technology to unmanned special-purpose vehicles, autonomous driving and robotic mobility as part of its broader push into future mobility.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.