A group of engineers at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, is working on a new strain of car tire that can automatically respond to changes in driving conditions. Fitted with electronic sensors capable of discerning variations in temperature and weather conditions as well as various different types of road surfaces, this "adaptive" tire can actually modify its profile and/or tread width to optimize performance while the vehicle is in motion driven.
Although still in the developmental stage, its creators showed a prototype of this new intelligent tire in Hannover last month at the world biggest industrial fair. While admitting that there’s still considerable work to be done before it’s ready to hit the streets, the group already has taken out a patent on the technology.
