‘Intelligent’ tyre that changes itself to weather

SYDNEY: German researchers
are developing
the world’s fi rst-ever “intelligent”
tyre which automatically
adapts itself to the prevailing
weather conditions
even while you are driving.
The team headed by Detlef
Riemer at the University of
Applied Sciences in Leipzig
unveiled the “adaptive
tyre” at this year’s Hanover
Fair, the world’s biggest industrial
fair taking place in
the north German city this
week.
“Today’s choice of tyres are
always a compromise between
the ability to brake
and petrol consumption,”
the Sydney Morning Herald
quoted Riemer as saying.
“The car driver has to take
into consideration every sort
of weather condition and
you can’t change tyres while
you’re driving,” he added.
But Riemer’s “adaptive
tyre” is equipped with electronic
sensors, which recognise
different sorts of
terrain - whether motorway
or untarmacked roads - and
whether it’s dry, raining or
snowing.
And accordingly, the tyres’
profi les are automatically
raised or widened accordingly,
even when the car is
in motion. “That means your
car is always equipped with
the best possible tyre, and
noise and petrol consumption
are automatically optimised,
too,” Riemer stated.
“The driver no longer has
to think about adapting their
tyres. The tyre itself ‘’thinks’
too,” he added.
The tyre is still a long way
from a fi nished product and
research is still being carried
out, notably on the materials
that can be used for the
moveable parts of the tyre’s
profi les. “But we’ve patented
it already, just in case,”
Riemer noted.