Bald Tire Scanners Unveiled in Great Britain - the New Reason for Fines?
The British unveiled a new device to monitor tire quality. It is capable of measuring the tread depth on the tires of the cars passing by it. According to the Auto Express data, the device is comprised of high-speed cameras and lasers that can read the depth of each groove and warn about the situation when a central groove measures less than 1.6 mm in depth.
The idea to use the device with practical purposes came to Trevol Hall’s mind, who spotted it during his visit to Germany. He saw the expensive device (that costs as much as 50,000 Euro) at the ProContour office. Being a faithful adherent of speed cameras Mr Hall advices the British government to equip road police with the new tread depth scanners.
Still, British car owners feel uneasy about the fact that this know-how could be just another option for officials to raise money from new fines. They think that money to be spent on the scanners should be better used for road repair.
However, the representative of the Association of Police Officers assures the public that scanner numbers aren’t going to be the reason for fining. The data from the scanners will be transmitted to a local police station and the officers will be just carrying explanatory work among the drivers to blame.
The British Department of Transport informs that worn tires became the reason for about 1200 road accidents in 2010, which 18 people dead. For the latest 5 years the death toll from tire-triggered accidents made 164 people. On the other hand, other researches tell that only 1.5 per cent of serious road accidents are caused by bald tires.
Goodyear Innovations on the Way to Clean Production
Goodyear engineers are working now under the creation of the new RunOnFlat tire that is going to feature the lowest rolling resistance possible while at the same time being made from eco-friendly materials only. To achieve this goal, Goodyear collaborates now with an Italian Novament research company and the BMW.
One of the main tasks of the project was to replace standard rubber compound with the bio one. The new compound is to be made from renewable materials such as corn starch, which makes the tire eco-friendly not only by its materials but also by low rolling resistance it shows.
The tire has for a long time been made from carbon black, which doesn’t comply with modern eco safety requirements. And although silica was introduced nearly twenty years ago, neither carbon nor silica can further reduce rolling resistance. That is why tire-makers are searching for alternative decisions to create eco-friendly tires now.
Ten years ago Goodyear unveiled the Eagle GT3 tire made under the BioTRED technology. The company used the Mater-Bi compound for it, which minimized the use of carbon and silica. From then on, Goodyear has been advancing in this field and now their corn starch tires are based on the following three aspects:
Firstly, corn fields improve the state of the environment for corn absorbs carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. Secondly, energy needs as well as harmful emissions during production cycles were reduced. And thirdly, the new compound ensures low rolling resistance of the tire it’s made from, which reduces your vehicle’s fuel consumption and hence lowers the amount of CO2 emissions.
Bridgestone is Likely to Make a Breakthrough in Tire Production
During a couple of years Bridgestone engineers have been working hard under an innovative technology that can bring something completely new into the tire-making industry. And they didn’t spend their time in vain, which was proven at the latest automotive show in Frankfurt.
The laborious work resulted into the new technology that helps the tire define the type of a road surface for you to stay on a safe side in any situation. It is based on the Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS) concept with a special sensor to transmit vibration from road irregularities to special equipment in your vehicle.
The smart system recognizes seven types of road surface – dry, semi-dry, wet, slush, fresh snow, compact snow and ice. You can see the information on a dedicated monitor in a salon.
By providing drivers with the information about the state of the road, the new technology helps them to get ready to tough driving conditions like rains or snowfalls. Moreover, the owners of CIAS equipped cars can share the info with other traffic participants, which helps significantly improve overall safety on the roads.
The precise equipment has been tested for two winter seasons on public roads in Japan (Hokkaido), the place being subject to frequent snowfalls and black ice buildup. The results were reported on an annual congress of the Japan Society of Automotive Engineers.
Dolton & Dex Is Ready to Design Concept Tires
Dolton & Dex, the company dealing with industrial design offers their services in concept tire development. The company claims that such a decision leaves the company’s rivals far behind.
Rob Dolton, the company’s manager, has been working in the sphere of concept tire design for years and has created tires for such automotive manufacturers as Chevrolet, GMC and Nissan. His work made him firmly believe in the fact that this rather an important niche remains empty on the market.
Mr Dolton tells that automotive designers don’t know much about tire design in the majority of cases. It happens so that they speak another language different from that of tire engineers.
Dolton & Dex company is ready to become a “translator” for them and to make their cooperation easier. They are ready to explain the designers how tires are made and what restrictions exist in this sphere. At the same time they will inform tire-makers about the wishes of automotive companies.
The company will do their best to make tire design match the concept of the vehicle the tire is created for. They claim that the tires will be fully functional and won’t run flat during an important photo session as well as won’t let the manufacturer down in Frankfurt in front of world press representatives.
Dolton & Dex has already proven their skills by designing Kumho concept tires for Nissan Qazana vehicle.
