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Futuristic Airless Tire is 3D Printed, Won't Go Flat or Need Replacement

posted by martyb on Thursday October 12 2017, @11:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the avoid-puddles dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Air-filled rubber tires have been around for quite a long while, though the evolution of their design has been relatively slow. But we are now seeing inklings of new innovations such as airless tires (at least for bicycles) making an appearance. They may even be 3D printed someday, as French tire company Michelin is proposing with this biodegradable concept tire that is uses computational design to come up with a sensor-equipped tire that can be modified whenever needed, using on-demand additive manufacturing technology.

Presented in a striking blue hue, Michelin's Vision tire has a spongy "permanent structure" that's produced by computational design tools, giving it an organic look that's quite different from the black rubber tires we are so accustomed to. It's this web-like yet solid structure that allows the tire to function without air, eliminating any possibility of a flat tire. The company says that the tire would be made out of organic and recyclable rubber compounds; for example, using orange zest, hay, paper and metal instead of petroleum and synthetic elastomers.

Michelin is behind this concept, so it's less vaporware than usual.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @03:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @03:11AM (#581528)

    I live in Oregon (up to $0.10/can or bottle now), and am amazed to still see broken glass on the road. Even more amazed to see the beer bottle label left over.

    Reminds me of a joke...

    A rodeo clown was driving back to Cheyenne from a rodeo in Rapid City, SD. As he's cruising down US 87, a young woman zooms around him. He notices she's texting the whole time. Well... I'll show HER, he thinks... So he speeds up his van on the right side of her car (they were in a passing zone, she was in the left lane), rolls down his window, gives her the stink eye and maybe a hand gesture or two, and throws his can of beer at her...