Goodyear Made Spherical MagLev Tires That Are Totally Nuts

[SlyPokerDog]

The tire of the future is a ball. An unbelievably sophisticated, nature-inspired, magnetic-levitation-infused ball. Goodyear just revealed its vision for a concept tire that's intended for the self-driving car of tomorrow. It's called Eagle-360, and it's totally round.

Why put a car on a quartet of glorified mouse trackballs? Goodyear says the 3D-printed tires will have a larger contact patch with the ground, allowing for more control. The design lets the tires hurl water away via centrifugal force. But the big reason is that spherical tires can be essentially omnidirectional.



http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a19747/goodyear-eagle-360-spherical-tires/

 

[riverman]

Now they just need to figure out that cars need to be giant airbags that bounce when hit and we'll move on

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Now they just need to figure out that cars need to be giant airbags that bounce when hit and we'll move on

Nerf car FTW.

 

[Natebishop3]

Wasn't this the concept for the car in iRobot?

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Reducing uneven tire wear would be awesome among the other benefits.

 

[speeds]