The Future of Tires - General

[video=youtube;7Zu7GVfx6Ng]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zu7GVfx6Ng&feature=player_embedded[/video] [B]Intelligent tires could be just around the corner – thanks to students from the University of Cincinnati. [/B] South Korean company Hankook Tire Group held a competition in the US which challenged students to imagine the role of tires in future automotive designs. Among the required criteria were sustainability needs – such as reducing and reusing raw materials in production – and increased efficiency, while meeting specific tire performance targets. Among the winning entries was student Ben Zavala's "Tiltred", an unusual tilting tire design; Mark Hearn's "Motiv" adaptable and dynamic off-road tires which came in second place; and Miranda Steinhauser's "Tessela Tire," featuring eco-friendly, replaceable treads. Their futuristic designs won two awards from Hankook, as well as being displayed at the prestigious Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas.

Tiltred seems the least plausible out of all of them, less contact?

"Intelligent tires could be just around the corner" HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG! The play on words is killing me!

Look really unpractical.

yea looks all nice and futuristic, but how would you justify the price for those things? I already have to pay 300€ for a set of new tires

This looks like a promotion to trackmania cars. And some of those seem really impracticable. Couldn't people throw a bunch of washers or something in the magnetic tires and basically fuck up the entire thing?

It always amazes me how far from reality most designers are. Meanwhile engineers care for the real problems: the outrageously dirty production, recycling, micro-dust from friction, temperature challenges and worst of all: The part of the world that isn't the spoiled "western society" using tires as old as 20 years, handsewn to work aka prices.

The biggest problem with those magnetic wheels is the magnets would consume more power than the entire car :v: [editline]4th January 2013[/editline] Also, if your car falls out of the field, does it fling the wheel off into traffic?

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;39090541]This looks like a promotion to trackmania cars. And some of those seem really impracticable. Couldn't people throw a bunch of washers or something in the magnetic tires and basically fuck up the entire thing?[/QUOTE] It's not very hard to just add a protective rim to the magnetic tires.

[QUOTE=KaNe1310;39090515]yea looks all nice and futuristic, but how would you justify the price for those things? I already have to pay 300€ for a set of new tires[/QUOTE] I'm guessing that they're gonna be solely for industrial use at first. Stuff like artic/rough terrain research vehicles, major racing events, transport of cargo in wild environments, stuff like that. When the time comes that car technology is on the same level as the tires, then they'll probably be put up for public use. Prices will be fair when the producers are positive that normal people would actually want to buy them, and when they're easier to mass-produce.

looks like a set of them will cost 1k or more.

Some really crazy futuristic shit they've got going on here. I also don't see it going anywhere. Besides, we've had 'advanced' tires for quite a few years now. [video=youtube;4jYcX_D09ig]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jYcX_D09ig[/video] These things are actually semi-practical and currently exist. I'm surprised they're not on the market right now. I'd buy a studded set to fiddle with if I could afford 'em and they were on the open market. [QUOTE=lifehole;39090987]looks like a set of them will cost 1k or more.[/QUOTE] 1K a unit more like it.

Airless tires would get filled with mud.

[QUOTE=Uncle Bourbon;39091756]Airless tires would get filled with mud.[/QUOTE] if you drive in mud

[QUOTE=KaNe1310;39090515]yea looks all nice and futuristic, but how would you justify the price for those things? I already have to pay 300€ for a set of new tires[/QUOTE] That's how much we paid for our winter tires lol

I feel like I'm watching a tire-oriented trailer for a Wipeout game before they had hovering vehicles

The 3 row tiltread ones look most plausible and like a thoroughly good idea, I can see it being adopted into sports in the future.

Or just spray them off with a hose to get the mud out.

Price wise, the price always goes down. Think about cell phones or computers when they were first coming out, or any model that just comes out. It always goes down in price over time. But yes. Anything like this would be expensive at first.

[QUOTE=TehDoctorz;39096894]But yes. Anything like this would be expensive at first.[/QUOTE] Most would also get jammed by anyone who happens to throw a quarter on the road.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;39097019]Most would also get jammed by anyone who happens to throw a quarter on the road.[/QUOTE] As opposed to anyone who could just throw a nail in the road now?

But will I be alive to see all of this?

[QUOTE=BldrGyMnGy;39090044]Tiltred seems the least plausible out of all of them, less contact?[/QUOTE] I think MAGTRAC is the most implausible. It's a floating tire, seriously, what if you lose it? Imaging how easy it would be to steal them.

The wheel that caters for speed bumps seems like it will be absurdly painful to hit a speed bump slightly too big for the wheel to cater for, like it would throw the front end of the car into the air until the back tires hit it.

[QUOTE=Justin Case;39098135]The wheel that caters for speed bumps seems like it will be absurdly painful to hit a speed bump slightly too big for the wheel to cater for, like it would throw the front end of the car into the air until the back tires hit it.[/QUOTE] But the car would still have suspension as well as the wheels

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just stick with the plain rubber tires.

[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kIWY2DV0KnE/Sh9SEzvoP-I/AAAAAAAADgM/jRpmRxr3WFY/Airless%20tire%201.jpg[/IMG] already posted but I'd already copied the URL before dropping into the thread so bah anyway they wouldn't get clogged up since they are left open here to demonstrate the internals - they can be easily sealed on the sides like a regular tire (of course then they'd just look like a normal tire, so it helps just to demonstrate it like that) and even if they were provided as open sided, something in a couple of the cells won't do much at all and said something wouldn't likely stay in the cell for very long if you're driving

[QUOTE=Uncle Bourbon;39091756]Airless tires would get filled with mud.[/QUOTE] Not really. The constant flexing would pump the mud right out. Not only that, but as mentioned, production versions would have thin sidewalls fitted that to a double-duty of making them look normal and keeping the lattice clean.

[QUOTE=TestECull;39104078]Not really. The constant flexing would pump the mud right out. Not only that, but as mentioned, production versions would have thin sidewalls fitted that to a double-duty of making them look normal and keeping the lattice clean.[/QUOTE] [quote][img]https://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/145/flatjoshsnsquishedpenny.jpg[/img][/quote] Can I put a penny in it?

Why would lifting the center of the tire give more fuel efficiency? It says less friction but the normal force is still the same? In fact now it's distributed over smaller areas?