Goodyear unveils a wild concept for spherical tires

Pretty cool concept car design by Goodyear which uses Spherical tires that move by use of magnetic levitation. There's a short video which showcases these tires. Pretty cool stuff, ATS.

The tires would be connected to the car via magnetic levitation.
Miniature sponges would be installed in the tires’ grooves that would expand the grooves’ size in wet conditions and thus deliver better traction while hydroplaning.
The tires also deliver lateral movement that you can’t get in regular tires, which would allow you to overtake other cars on a highway without changing your driving direction.
The tires are also capable of tracking the amount of wear they take and then positioning themselves to maximize the total amount of mileage you get from them.
While this is still a concept and is likely a long way from becoming a reality, it’s still an incredibly cool vision of future technology. Check out the full video below.

These tires can make a car move in ways that cars of today cannot. The use of magnetic levitation is a neat touch also. What says ATS?

www.yahoo.com...

a reply to: lostbook


Ok I have to say this...same ol same ol

Yeah its neat and so futuristic but honestly we will never see it. I have seen these "innovations" never come to fruition. We are still driving the same cars (basically) since the 1920's combustion engines on 4 rubber wheels

Yes there has be some progress (on-board computer regulators etc), but nothing as game changing as this comes to light...and that makes me wonder why...

a reply to: lostbook

Flying cars don't need tires, and with flying cars likely to take over by the year 1,765,893, these would make for a nice bridge technology.

Sounds really cool, it's things like this that sometimes remind me the future is going to look a lot different than the present.

originally posted by: abeverage
a reply to: lostbook


Ok I have to say this...same ol same ol

Yeah its neat and so futuristic but honestly we will never see it. I have seen these "innovations" never come to fruition. We are still driving the same cars (basically) since the 1920's combustion engines on 4 rubber wheels

Yes there has be some progress (on-board computer regulators etc), but nothing as game changing as this comes to light...and that makes me wonder why...

It's somewhat dis-heartening that the future we were promised hasn't come to fruition by now. However, it's happening in bits and pieces. We need individuals to make the future happen not corporations or governments.

It seems as if Goodyear took the idea from iRobot in the Audi RSQ with spherical tires....

a reply to: lostbook

Reality imitates Science Fiction. This looks like the car Will Smith was driving in the movie I Robot.

The RSQ is not great for the future it promised on screen, but for the future it promised in real life. Sure, it had Will Smith driving it and it seemed to float above the road and it told Will Smith that he was getting into a car accident which Will Smith totally realized because how could you not I mean he’s Will Smith and Will Smith always saves the world so I’m sure Will Smith would realize that he’s in a car accident Will Smith.

No, the RSQ promised the Audi R8, as the R8 debuted just two years after I, Robot. Last time I checked the R8 does have tires, but the RSQ looks like an R8 clone that’s just spent a little too much time in water. And if a movie really can predict the future, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

Well, I suppose when the car and tires come out I can sell my house for a downpayment on the car. When the tires get worn out I will just have to quit driving.

a reply to: lostbook

Freaking A. I have been dreaming about this since forever. I never worked it out in my mind how it could actually work.

I am REALLY wondering how they pulled it off.

S&F

a reply to: lostbook

Being a garage mechanic myself, "innovations" like this just make cars that much harder to work on. What happened to the good ole' days?

Edit: Removed superfluous link!

More on topic: Frickin' top notch!

If you run over a paperclip, will it get... like... stuck?

a reply to: CrikeyMagnet

Possibly, it might also suck the fillings out of any nearby old timer. There would be no end to the fun!

AWWWW the body from the little Star Wars dude!!

originally posted by: Jonjonj
Edit: Removed superfluous link!

More on topic: Frickin' top notch!

Thx!

Anything "awesome" that gets invented never makes it to the public. Nope, it gets snatched up by the military and government.

Holographic hard drives? Nope, we can't have those. . . Those mysteriously seemed to "disappear" from development right as they were starting to show promise.

a reply to: slapjacks

You got that right, I used to have a 78 Ford truck, when you lifted the hood you saw the ground underneath the engine. It would do 120mph per the speedometer, now I have a 2007 chevy and when you lift the hood they got so much stuff in there you can't see the ground below and it still only does 120mph. Improvements like air bags I can see, too much computerized crap though, Just give me something that runs and is easy to fix and I'd be happy.

Cool concept, but I don't get one thing. How are the wheels connected to the drive train? In the video they look like golf balls freely turning in their own socket. I don't see where the engine delivers power to the wheels.

originally posted by: abeverage
a reply to: lostbook


Yes there has be some progress (on-board computer regulators etc), but nothing as game changing as this comes to light...and that makes me wonder why...

Manufacturing infrastructure, mostly.

The cost of reinventing the wheel is prohibitive from an industrial manufacturing standpoint. You already have the machinery in place to build cars to current specs. To make a production model of the OP car would mean a reinvestment of a large fortune into manufacturing capacity. Even higher because you won't bring current manufacturing off line to refit your machines. You will set up a new manufacturing supply chain. And I can imagine you will have to manufacture every piece of something that ground breaking, except maybe some common threads of nuts/bolts.

I couldn't even begin to imagine what the cost of goods would be. But the price point would put it out of reach of everyone but the top 1%

originally posted by: dogstar23
a reply to: lostbook

Flying cars don't need tires, and with flying cars likely to take over by the year 1,765,893, these would make for a nice bridge technology.

Sounds really cool, it's things like this that sometimes remind me the future is going to look a lot different than the present.

Just took a quick trip in my time machine to 17695893 AD
saw a Popular Mechanics commercial hologram touting
flying cars being just around the corner...

1. A blow out would seem to be catastrophic

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