In the nearest future, a new product may appear on the market, which will allow motorists not to worry about changing wheels with the coming of a new season. “Smart” wheels will adapt to the weather conditions and the road surface on their own.
The 21st century sets new standards for the most common things. This trend also applies to the automotive industry. A group of designers and engineers have introduced a new conceptual development called Kumho’s Maxplo, which is, in fact, nothing but real “smart” wheels.
The main point of the new wheels is their versatility. The first and most important feature of Kumho’s Maxplo is that with the installation of such wheels on a car, the need for seasonal tire change just disappears. The wheels should automatically adapt to the conditions of the road surface, relying on the data obtained as a result of their own analysis.
All sorts of additional functions seem curious. One of them is the possibility of broadening or narrowing the wheels according to the driver’s command. This is very useful, for example, when driving on snow or mud. In addition, Kumho’s Maxplo wheels can produce spikes for better traction. It will be extremely difficult to puncture the “smart tire” with any object.
If this occurs, the wheel will automatically replace the damaged segments due to “automatic inflation”. Finally it is worth noting that Kumho’s Maxplo will weigh about 12 kg. The dimensions of the wheel in the normal mode (without changes) will be 700x700x250 mm. Each wheel will be run by a small motor with a pair of batteries. The wheels will be made using advanced composite materials.
