Goodyear Unveils New Concept Tires for Autonomous Vehicles
Photo: Goodyear.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. revealed two innovative concept tires at the 86th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland on March 1. The concepts are the Intelligrip with advanced sensor and treadwear technology and the Eagle-360, a sphere-shaped, future-oriented tire.
The Intelligrip is a special concept tire designed to sense road surface weather conditions and communicate that information to autonomous vehicle control systems. When the tires sense a rainy or slippery road surface, the information will be sent to the autonomous vehicle so that it can adapt its speed. The Intelligrip is also equipped with custom algorithms that account for variables such as inflation pressure and tire temperature.
The concept of the Eagle 360’s spherical-shaped design would aid in providing self-driving cars maneuverability, connectivity and biomimicry to increase safety. The sphere shape allows the car to move in all directions, which in turn contributes to safety for the passengers and also better copes with space limitations, such as tight parking spots or city streets.
“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,” says Joseph Zekoksi, senior vice president and chief technical officer of Goodyear. “Goodyear’s concept tires play a dual role in that future, both as creative platforms to push the boundaries of conventional thinking and test beds for next-generation technologies.”
