Goodyear this week unveiled concept tire designs aimed specifically at autonomous cars — including a new spherical-shaped tire.
The IntelliGrip — the first of two prototypes introduced at the Geneva International Motor Show — is shaped like a conventional tire but includes specially designed tread and advanced sensors to identify and adjust to weather and road surface conditions.
The tire can communicate with autonomous vehicle controls and help evaluate the condition of the tire and vehicle. Goodyear also developed algorithms to account for changing tire pressure and temperature, and it is cooperating with automakers on connecting the tires to braking and stability systems.
The second prototype, the Eagle-360, resembles a large rubber ball rather than the car tires used for well over a century. They would remain attached to vehicles via a system of magnets, essentially allowing passengers to smoothly float over the tires.
The unique design would allow the car to move in all directions, which the Ohio tire maker said would improve safety and easily allow self-driving cars to maneuver in city streets or parking lots.
In addition, the Eagle-360's 3D-printed tread is designed to harden on dry roads and soften during wet conditions, while embedded sensors communicate with internal systems and other nearby cars.
Monitoring technology would also ensure that the spherical tires wear down evenly.
Although neither tire is close to production, company officials said that the designs will help evaluate new technologies and challenge conventional thinking about vehicles.
“By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in self-driving vehicles, tires will play an even more important role as the primary link to the road,” said Goodyear Chief Technical Officer Joseph Zekoski.
