A group of researchers from Leipzig University have announced that they are in the midst of developing what they call an “intelligent” tire. The team behind the project is head by Detlef Riemer who says, “Today’s choices of tires are always a compromise between the ability to brake and petrol consumption. The car driver has to take into consideration every sort of weather condition and you can’t change tires while you’re driving.” Apparently, the innovation will make the switching of tires in between summer and winter a thing of the past. The “intelligent tire” which is equipped with electronic sensors that help recognize different sorts of terrain allegedly adapts to the terrain in question whether it is on a motorway or dirt roads in wet, dry or even snow-induced slippery conditions. The tires’ profiles will then be raised or widened accordingly even if the car is in motion.
On top of that, the scientists involved in the project are doing what they can to even provide less tire noise and better gasoline consumption in addition to the best suitable tire for the terrain at that point in time. For now, since the project is still in its development stages, the actual inner-workings of the tire have not been released especially with regards to the moveable parts of the adaptive tire but one thing we can be sure of is that when the tire does hit retailers, it will probably cost quite a bit. But as usual with technology, anything new tends to cost more at the start. Once more people get involved and the demand for it increases, the prices will be brought down to the level where consumer markets can be penetrated. Before that can happen however the team behind the adaptive “intelligent tire” still has got plenty of work to do. In order to protect their innovation Riemer said, “..we’ve patented it already, just in case.”
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