Goodyear unveils a wild concept for spherical tires

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
1. A blow out would seem to be catastrophic

2. Could you imagine the cost to replace a tire?!

Especially since no cost effective means to do so has been created yet. There'll be some R&D that goes into making a product that won't get you sued into debt. Not to mention the general liability insurance you'd need for your product. I can imagine GL insurance alone would drive most tire manufacturers out of business, at least until a few years have passed and the product can be proven to have a safe engineering model.

a reply to: UnderKingsPeak

You waited an extra 10 million years after his prediction and they're STILL not in production?

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

Well, what you pay for in tires you save on in axles, right?

a reply to: Shadoefax

There would be no drivetrain, per se. The movement of the tires is driven by magnetic impulses from the surrounding cavity... which I assume would get activated in a sequence (or pattern of sequences) to make the tires move in any direction you'd like.

Nice idea and cool graphics, but the fact is, this isn't just a tire: It's a complete re-design of the automobile. Since Goodyear just makes tires, I don't see this having any practical application. Toyota, Ford, GM, etc. are not going to re-design their lineup just so they can use these cool tires.

a reply to: schuyler

Perhaps this does give rise to something that has been coming for a while now, though... the homebrew. 3-d printing is a force to be reckoned with, and if GM, Ford, Toyota, et al. don't get on board with it, I'm quite certain there will be a start of a push in that direction anyway.

People have been building their own cars for a very long time... I can't see this being the end of it. If anything, I see a great industry in simply creating control systems for hobbyists that are capable of controlling 4-spherical wheel omni-directional steering and traction control systems. Systems not included.

I already wish to know where I can get my hands on the necessary materials.

originally posted by: SlowNail
a reply to: UnderKingsPeak

You waited an extra 10 million years after his prediction and they're STILL not in production?

Still no flying car, and I looked ! but Nada !! Nyet !
Must be a non organic carrot they are dangling just in front of us

The thing that is missing is the shocks. Even though the tires levitate, you still only get about 1 inch of travel. Also, the tire "cups" will wear down with all the snow and debris being sucked up in there. At least changing them out "should" be easier.

a reply to: CrikeyMagnet

Then it would seem that an engine (at least the kind currently in use today) would not be necessary. It would only require an electricity source to charge (I imagine) the super-conducting magnets that rotate the wheels.

originally posted by: CrikeyMagnet
a reply to: schuyler

Perhaps this does give rise to something that has been coming for a while now, though... the homebrew. 3-d printing is a force to be reckoned with, and if GM, Ford, Toyota, et al. don't get on board with it, I'm quite certain there will be a start of a push in that direction anyway.

Ah. OK. So you think people are going to 3-D print cars.

I'd surely like a printer that could do that. Affordable, I mean, and at the push of a button:

"Push one for Corvette Z06. Push two for Mercedes S-550. Push three for Ford F-350."

While this car isn't a Mag-lev car, it does incorporate Mag-lev tech around the wheels. I think this is an important step toward an actual Maglev car.

originally posted by: schuyler

Ah. OK. So you think people are going to 3-D print cars.

I'd surely like a printer that could do that. Affordable, I mean, and at the push of a button:

"Push one for Corvette Z06. Push two for Mercedes S-550. Push three for Ford F-350."

That's a bit of a simplification. People could right now print replacement parts. By extension of this, you could completely fabricate a car using custom printed parts. Expensive and time-consuming right now, but there are some people with tons of time and money. I give it one year until someone does an "I 3-d printed my car and you can too!" video. For the low low price of only $200,000.

3D printing of pre-assembled complex machinery is likely some time away... but still not out of the realm of possibility.

Lemme know when I can put these tires on my wrangler. Until then /yawn

This will never see production....and if it does then epic design flaws will bring Goodyear to its knees after people die in droves(pun intended)

-Christosterone

a reply to: Shadoefax

That's the 1st thing I noticed as well. No actual hint as to how they are connected to axles or drive train - because it ain't gonna happen

a reply to: CrikeyMagnet

Expensive and time-consuming right now, but there are some people with tons of time and money

Why would people with money spend to make something thats cheaper to buy off the shelf?
They got to where they are ie heaps of money and time to spend by not throwing their money away.
Sometimes I wonder how some on ATS view how the real world works.....

a reply to: schuyler

I'd surely like a printer that could do that. Affordable, I mean, and at the push of a button:

Not to mention that there are thousands of parts that get to make a car. Can you imagine the software needed and the amount of files. And people somehow think all this design & software is gonna be free and open source.

Anyone ever hear of Patents????

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: CrikeyMagnet

Expensive and time-consuming right now, but there are some people with tons of time and money

Why would people with money spend to make something thats cheaper to buy off the shelf?
They got to where they are ie heaps of money and time to spend by not throwing their money away.
Sometimes I wonder how some on ATS view how the real world works.....

Because having the thing is not the point. I wonder if you've been in the real world.

Seriously? No idea why someone would want to make something rather than have it handed to them in exchange for little pieces of paper?

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: schuyler

I'd surely like a printer that could do that. Affordable, I mean, and at the push of a button:

Not to mention that there are thousands of parts that get to make a car. Can you imagine the software needed and the amount of files. And people somehow think all this design & software is gonna be free and open source.

Anyone ever hear of Patents????

People already make cars. They make the little parts that go into cars. They even potentially start from an existing base and build cars around them. The number of pieces is irrelevant. There are those who live for this stuff. There was a guy I worked with (when this company was three times the size it is now) who drove his own electric car to work. It was based on an old Porsche, and looked authentic, but if you opened the engine compartment, it was radically different. All of the mechanisms that go into operating a car had to be replaced, and all within the space available to still make it look like a Porsche.

Another person who used to work here had a motorcycle built on similar principles. The idea is that if you love to do it, the work and expense isn't an obstacle. Patents cover a single method of implementing an idea. And there are enough interested people that YES a lot of this stuff can be free and open source. The software you need to do it already is.

I can't help but think that if I'm driving along a mountain road with a cliff to my left, and I started into a relatively sharp right-hand curve, that the force of momentum and inertia would want to send my car toward the cliff -- and the fact that the tires were spheres would allow the car be more easily pushed that direction.

Then I die.