Has Goodyear Created the Tire of the Future? The Spherical Tires You Might See after Car Repair Training
At this year’s Geneva Auto Show, Goodyear unveiled a brand new tire concept: the Eagle-360. This tire is designed solely for autonomous vehicles, is created using a 3D printer and boasts a completely spherical shape.
Right now, Goodyear’s Eagle-360 is purely a concept tire, but the idea behind it is to increase safety in self-driving cars as well as to make them more agile. These tires address some of the safety issues currently being faced in the development of autonomous vehicles, and they also offer some interesting perks.
If you’re interested in pursuing an auto technician career, read on to learn about the ideas behind Goodyear’s Eagle-360, as well as another tire the company unveiled that actually works with today’s auto technology.
Magnetic Levitation Would Mean a New Level of Car Repair Training
Since the Eagle-360 is a sphere, there’s no way it can be held in place with bolts. Goodyear envisions its tires being connected to autonomous vehicles with magnetic levitation. This means that the tires would be suspended from the car with magnetic fields using a similar technology as magnetic levitation trains. If futuristic cars go in this direction, passengers would feel less bumps, and it would also reduce noise quite a bit. If this technology eliminates the need for axles to spin wheels, car repair training will go in a whole new direction!
Eagle-360 Sensors and Movement: A Guide for the Future Automotive Technician
Goodyear imagined putting sensors in the Eagle-360 that would be able to detect road conditions and communicate that information to other autonomous vehicles to avoid traffic pile-ups. Since the tires are 3D printed, they can also be easily customized for regional road conditions.
Check out Goodyear’s vision for the Eagle-360 here:
The spherical shape and the fact that the tires are held by magnetic levitation would mean that autonomous cars would have 360-degree movement. This could mean that cars could move sideways and require much less space to pull into parking spots. It also means that when things like black ice or other obstacles are detected, vehicles could easily navigate without sliding.
Goodyear is Already Working with Automakers on a Practical Concept
Although the Eagle-360 might only be for the self-driving cars of the future, Goodyear is currently working with several car companies to implement new technology in another tire concept: the Intelligrip.
While the Intelligrip looks like a conventional tire, a trained automotive technician can see that it actually features a much more intricate tread design. It boasts sensors that can communicate with modern vehicles to monitor tire wear, pressure, and temperature. The Intelligrip is designed to work with the sensors and anti-collision systems that today’s cars already have. It can adapt to road conditions and adjust cornering, driving stability, and stopping distance based on what a car’s sensors detect. Although we may not have self-driving cars yet, it’s technology like this that’s contributing to safer roads by making cars more intelligent and responsive.
Looking for comprehensive auto technician training in BC?
Visit ATC for a full list of our programs, or to speak with an advisor.
