If you live in Canada, your winter tyres might be put on by a robot this autumn. San Francisco startup PitPro Automation is installing its first automated tyre-changing system at a tyre shop in Calgary, Alberta. According to the company, the robot changes a set of four tyres in under 15 minutes. The first customer is Kal Tire, one of Canada's biggest independent tyre chains.

Behind the machine is a very ordinary problem. Founder and CEO Jeremy Conrad says changing tyres is back-breaking work and that shops face a serious labour shortage. Even when they find people, they often leave after a few months, a year at most. "One manager told me he had to ask for special permission to pay more, because a Panda Express opened across the street and took about half his staff," Conrad said.

The system is designed to fit into the shop's existing service bays. It consists of two robots, each about the size of an oven, which use sensors and a robotic arm to find and loosen the lug nuts, set them aside, remove each wheel and put a new or rotated one in its place. Mechanics can use the same bay for other repairs too, and that's the argument PitPro uses to persuade shops to give it a try.

Until now the company has mostly talked about corporate fleets, and that remains the priority. Its adviser is Ted Cannis, a former Ford Pro executive who, according to Conrad, has connections with almost every major fleet in the US. But tyre chains are attractive because of constant demand: in Canada, switching from summer to winter tyres and back is a yearly chore for most drivers. PitPro is targeting chains rather than small shops, because they have standard layouts and are easier to scale across.

The real world, of course, isn't a lab. Shops operate with their doors open, so the robots are exposed to dust, dirt and bad weather, and the sensors need a clear view of the wheels. Conrad showed a photo from Calgary in which the robots were almost completely covered in dandelion seeds. "We checked, it won't be a problem for us," he said, laughing. "But I never thought we'd have to deal with a cloud of dandelions."

How many years will it be before a robot like this turns up in a tyre shop in the Balkans - and when it does, will it replace a mechanic, or fill a job nobody wants to do any more?