University of Santo Tomas

Faculty of Engineering

Automotive Engineering Elective

1st Semester, A.Y. 2017-2018

Final Report

Submitted to: Engr. Vitaliano Mamawal

Submitted by: Torres, John Lester C.

 Honeycomb Designed Spherical Wheels for

Autonomous Vehicles
Wondering when the wheels will not be round? Of course when it is sphere!

Spherical wheels’ are conceptual development and these are for the autonomous

vehicles’ tyres in the future and this design is for future urban environment. The

tyre can move in all directions and offers a smooth ride through its fluid

movements. Active technology allows the tire to move as needed to reduce sliding

from potential hazards such as black ice or sudden obstacles, so it contributes to

safety. It includes no axle. Instead, it would be attached to the car with magnetic

levitation. The tire is suspended from the car by magnetic fields, similar to

magnetic levitation trains, which increases passenger comfort and reduces noise.

Nowadays, people (we) are looking for smart and sustainable cars to be part

of future mobility and that reliability and safety are key for them and I think that
this concept tyre could deliver a safe and sustainable solution for us who are likely

to drive and ride autonomous cars in the future. This concept can help us through

many things like easier way to park in parallel, drive sideways, overtake without

changing your driving direction, and many more.

These tyres are designed based on our locations and driving habits. We can

also design this with “Biomimicry-inspired design for it to handle wet roads easily.

It softens when wet to create deeper grooves for aquaplaning resistance. Designed

with dimples for wet conditions or smoothing the tread for dry conditions. The

bionic skin of this tyre will morph into a dimpled pattern to further enhance grip. It

can eject waters through centrifugal force. We can also design the grooves that

stiffens when dry to deliver better driving performance. We can also design it with

a layer of foam under the tread to ensure a larger contact patch with the road.

Future active technology can allow the tyres to move as needed. Sensors

keep connected to the vehicle and gather data on road conditions, weather and

other vehicles around it to further improve safety. It reduce sliding when there are

potential hazards. Sensors register road conditions and adjust the speed of the

vehicle when needed. Road and weather conditions are also communicated with

these vehicles. These vehicles also repositions its tyres to prepare for the road
ahead. Sensors also register the wear of

tires and reposition it to optimize wears

and extend mileage. We’ll also need less

space for parking because these tyres

moves all direction. These could also

increase the capacity of public parking areas without increasing their sizes.

Creating these tyres with honeycomb design means that these are non-

pneumatic tyres. With the proper engineering, it can make our tyres more durable,

it can last longer, gives us more comfortable rides, less environment hazards and

no more puncturing, rigid and rugged tyres that gives us no hassle. For further

force distribution in the tyre, putting many spokes can be good especially when we

are loading our vehicles with heavy things. With this design, it is designed to

lessen the stress and other forces experienced by the tyres. Additionally, this design

pattern is very rigid that the maximum load is relatively higher compared to other

designs.