No air in your tires?

[unixronin]

No problem!

In developing the design, the Wisconsin team studied other airless tires, like the Michelin "Tweel," but in the end settled on lessons learned from nature.

The patent-pending design mimics the precise, six-sided cell pattern found in a honeycomb and best duplicates the "ride feel" of pneumatic tires, according to the developers.

"The goal was to reduce the variation in the stiffness of the tire, to make it transmit loads uniformly and become more homogenous," said mechanical engineering professor Tim Osswald.  "And the best design, as nature gives it to us, is really the honeycomb."

This particular geometry also does a great job of reducing noise and heat levels while rolling — two common problems with past models.

Costs per tire are expected to be the same or less than current units.  Delivery is anticipated for 2011.

Comments

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

Much prettier than pictures of Tweels that I'd seen. The regularity is very elegant. The engineer in me approves. :-)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd expect this to have more consistent and predictable behavior in terms of radial and rotational stiffness.

Minor win: Non-puncturable.
Major wins: Impossible to over- or under-inflate, and no need to carry a spare tire any more.