I just wrapped up an exhilarating lecture on transportation. As usual, I feel as I’ve been on a long hike, reached the summit to enjoy the view, and now I’m on my couch feeling somehow transformed but unsure what’s next. One video I shared with the class was from our Department of Energy and shown above. It focused on electrified roads and how that could benefit energy efficiency. This could be a big deal for drivers, but it seems like a big challenge to implement.

Then three minutes later, while checking email from a materials research conference, my mind was blown away. Now, as a scientist researching the fundamental properties of nature and materials, my mind gets blown fairly regularly, which I love my job for. But this was different.

I’ve been wondering how the autonomous vehicle movement would affect me. First, can I get one? I’ve evolved from a hot-rodding teen to a slow and safety first grandpa type driver. Honestly, now I’d like to hit a button and enjoy the ride. Second, the ethical questions are really troubling. Car: “In this unexpected scenario, shall I risk my two passenger’s safety or run over those three children?” Then, like the cell phone, what will this new thing do to change us?

For the last point, let’s think to our mastery of growing plants, and to see society evolve from abundant biofuels and human sustenance. Similarly, the human-petroleum synergy is undeniable in our transportation and leveraged the one of the first and biggest inventions: the wheel.

Thinking that far back in modern society and really useful stuff, I see the GY360 trying to go beyond a fundamental part of our lives. It really caught my attention. I was like, “whoa!”

But before we go any further, you must watch this video from GoodYear. For the techies, pause the video at 25 seconds to peek inside the concept tire to see: what might be an internal power supply, rotation mechanism, inertia transfer devices and gyroscopic rotators. The imagery gets me thinking of how possible this really is! The rest of the video shows how these tires drive.

Yes, that could change how we drive. Four independent spherical tires enabled by autonomous computer navigators. Stable, self adjusting, self rotating, magnetically levitating cars on total autopilot adds more options for the vehicle to maintain safe, stable travel. I can’t imagine a steering wheel that could control these tires’ advanced maneuverability and features. I wonder how race cars might look with dynamic GY360 traction.

But what about energy efficiency? Engine efficiency might not be the question we need to answer. There’s other key questions such as, can we integrate battery technologies that control the differential inertia for the tires? How do we keep them cool if the propulsion is internal to the tire? If the force is directed from the car into the tire, how do we do that efficiently?

In one year, not much about the way we drive will change. In ten years, we could see a few new options for “refueling” that might be hydrogen for fuel cells or hydrogen combustion engines, perhaps with a variety of electricity options for batteries and a larger fraction of electric motor vehicles. In about 20-30 years, we can expect some transformations of how we drive. Where things will change is still uncertain, but change is certain. Autonomous vehicles are next.

Do you have a transportation idea that you’d like to share? Post a comment or drop me a line.

Drive on!