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Goodyear's Spherical Tire--Update

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the more-than-a-spherical-cow dept.

Leave it to the French to try something different--a new prototype platform for electric cars from Citroen doesn't need to steer the wheels, because normal (cylindrical) wheels are replaced by spherical tires, made specially by Goodyear. https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/new-tires-news/goodyear-develops-bespoke-eagle-360-spherical-concept-tire-for-citroen.html

Goodyear introduced the Eagle 360 concept at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2016, with a second iteration, the Eagle 360 Urban concept, following in 2017. The latest iteration of the design features a high level of maneuverability (due to the tire’s spherical shape) and long-lasting attributes (thanks to a tread surface that is four times larger than a standard tire). The tire provides extended range due to a low-rolling-resistance rubber and consistent grip in all driving directions thanks to hexagonal siping.

Link includes pics of the car/platform and the tire tread. Are you ready to drive on big black soccer balls? I want mine multi-colored like beach balls.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:01AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:01AM (#1184648)

    I think such modular platforms would be ideal for transporting stuff, because they can be pushed/pulled in all directions.
    Probably a lot easier/safer than a tiny stacking mashine basically holding a large tower in it's "hands".

    For a road? Maybe if you add a regular powered wheel in the middle of the platform, that you can rotate at will.
    But I'm not sure... like other people said, old mice with wheels had serious dust issues.
    And, in order to use a wheel for accelerating, you need to put weight on that wheel.

  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:00PM

    by acid andy (1683) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:00PM (#1184780) Homepage Journal

    So it's an overgrown, very expensive, hyped-up, shopping trolley.

    --
    Master of the science of the art of the science of art.

  • (Score: 0) by Coligny on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:27AM

    by Coligny (2200) on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:27AM (#1185045)

    I love moron stating the obvious to bring their ray of sunshine on a topic they discovered in the last 2 minutes it took them to read the article summary… try to read aboot “MULTI DIRECTIONNAL WHEELS” Bubba.

    Crown still belong to the absolute cretin gloating about spider like hydraulic legs for helicopters undercarriage… because helos are so hard to move while on the ground…
    And the weight of such hydraulic bondoogle would never be an issue for aircrafts whose ability to fly rely more on a pact with Sumerian demons rather than physics….