PitPro’s First Tire-Changing Robot Goes Live in Canada

San Francisco startup PitPro Automation has installed its first automatic tire-changing system at a tire shop in Calgary, Alberta. The deployment is at a Kal Tire location, one of Canada’s largest independent tire service chains.

PitPro says the robotic system, first revealed last year, can change a full set of four tires in under 15 minutes. Two boxy robots, each roughly the size of an oven, use sensors and a robotic arm to locate and loosen lug nuts, store them, remove each wheel, and fit a new or rotated tire.

Founder and CEO Jeremy Conrad said tire shops face a major labor shortage because the work is physically demanding. He said some workers leave within a few months to a year. One shop manager told him a Panda Express opening across the street took about half of the shop’s employees.

PitPro has mainly discussed deployments with commercial fleets, but Conrad also sees an opportunity with tire chains. He said Canada’s yearly switch to and from winter tires creates steady demand. The system is designed to fit existing maintenance bays, although the company had to adapt it to dust, debris, weather, and even clouds of dandelion seeds.