4 ms·

>Connected: Reports tread status and configuration, e.g. to inform the driver that he should change to a winter tire tread. That sounds like everything that's

>Connected: Reports tread status and configuration, e.g. to inform the driver that he should change to a winter tire tread. That sounds like everything that's terrible about printer ink but with the decimal moved once to the right. I can imagine a world where your tires stop working because you had them re-treaded with a tread pattern or the OEM won't honor a warranty item because you didn't use an approved brand of retread.

treeman79 5y ago
Truck tires are retreaded all the time. It’s why you see bits of tread on the highway. They do fall off now and then. Apparently saves a lot of money.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Tires where purchasing decisions are driven almost exclusively by cost per time or distance are routinely retreaded. But that does not describe the passenger car tire market.
  - linsomniac 5y ago
    Doesn't it? I mean, I get that some people want to try a different make/model of tire when replacing it for performance/noise/appearance, I've been one of those people at times. But I also think there are plenty of people who get the tire that's available to them and reducing the cost per year of use would be welcome. I will say that having an EV, the cost of tires really stands out. In 60K miles the only maintenance expenses I've had have been tires and a windshield. Even the ongoing cost of charging is basically invisible (plug in at home, free on the road), so tires have been about half the money I've put into it, it feels like.
    - throwawayboise 5y ago
      I remember retreads being a thing you could buy for your car in the 1970s/80s. I remember local radio ads from retread shops. I haven't heard of passenger car retreads in decades though, so I don't think it's really done anymore.
  - robocat 5y ago
    In New Zealand you could get tyres retreaded decades ago, however it was banned for light vehicles, due to safety reasons I believe. Truck and specialty tyres in NZ still get retreaded by a company called Bandag, and you sometimes see detached tread at the side of the road. I am guessing that retreads are only allowed for dual tyres on trailers, where if a tyre fails it isn’t catastrophic. I imagine they are not allowed for the critical front steering/braking tyres on the tractor unit.
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  Surely it saves a lot of rubber waste too? Like 90%+ of the rubber mass of a typical tire must be in the parts that never contact the road and therefore should be good forever?
  - wcarron 5y ago
    Unfortunately not the case. Tires go through lots of heat and stress cycles. I think most of the heat a tire generates isn't from friction with the road, even. It's internal friction within the tire itself. The carcasses are made of wires/meshes/layers of aramids/steel/aluminum and aren't indestructible, even if durable. And the rubber on the sidewalls gets degraded by sun/dirt/sand/etc, too.
    - mikepurvis 5y ago
      True, true. But from the picture in the article, it sure looks like there's a heck of a lot less rubber overall in this tire— so regardless of what it's been historically, this is a step toward a tire that "consumes" way, way less rubber per X distance of driving, whether due to less rubber being in it overall, or it being able to be recharged with additional tread before being disposed of.
jaclaz 5y ago
Don't forget fridges: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28478438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28478438 Will single tyres e-mail you singularly or as a group? I mean: Hi, I am your left front tyre and wished to tell you how ... or: We, the tyres of your car, have determined that ...
- dreamcompiler 5y ago
  Personally I welcome our new Tyrius Cybernetics Corporation overlords.
- mpol 5y ago
  It might work similar to low pressure, where you see the wheel light up on the dashboard. Ofcourse the human part can make the decision on what to do about it, and if you want to replace tyres, how many at once.
i_am_proteus 5y ago
Your printer running out of ink does not have an associated risk of death and injury. Tire wear does. Existing air-filled tires are already "connected" on modern vehicles - pressure sensors that link to the vehicle's on-board diagnostics and inform the driver of low pressure, often before there's any other visible, audible, or mechanical indication that the tire has a leak.
- pandaman 5y ago
  Modern cars have tons of sensors but none of them are in the consumable parts such as tires[+]. It's important because it means you can use any consumables (gas, oil, coolant, washer liquid, tires) as long as they meet objective physical requirements the car expects. If the tires provide enough traction and are of the correct size then any modern car will work with them fine. "Connected" tires sounds like there is a direct (as opposed to the car measuring the tire's shape in the TPMS from your example) information exchange between the tire and the car, something that does not happen now and appears to be susceptible to the same marketing practices printer manufacturers use. [+] Some cars have "sensors" in the brake pads, which amounts to a wire loop inside the pad, which gets cut as the pad wears down, owners of these cars are not happy about this "feature".
  - zardo 5y ago
    >"Connected" tires sounds like there is a direct (as opposed to the car measuring the tire's shape in the TPMS from your example) information exchange between the tire and the car, something that does not happen now Michelin sells a tire mounted TPMS, also available pre-installed. https://business.michelinman.com/construction-industry/services-construction-industrial/michelin-tire-care https://business.michelinman.com/construction-industry/servi...
    - pandaman 5y ago
      Not for cars, though. There is probably a market for tire monitoring in mining equipment, which is probably not constructed with the same built-in systems that consumer cars have.
Arrath 5y ago
Plain old TPMS is finnicky enough, I can imagine this would have plenty more problems.
Spivak 5y ago
It's only terrible because we've created a system that incentivizes it being made purposely terrible for profit. The idea that your tires can monitor their own wear should be a good thing.

treeman79 5y ago

Truck tires are retreaded all the time. It’s why you see bits of tread on the highway. They do fall off now and then. Apparently saves a lot of money.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Tires where purchasing decisions are driven almost exclusively by cost per time or distance are routinely retreaded. But that does not describe the passenger car tire market.
- linsomniac 5y ago
  Doesn't it? I mean, I get that some people want to try a different make/model of tire when replacing it for performance/noise/appearance, I've been one of those people at times. But I also think there are plenty of people who get the tire that's available to them and reducing the cost per year of use would be welcome. I will say that having an EV, the cost of tires really stands out. In 60K miles the only maintenance expenses I've had have been tires and a windshield. Even the ongoing cost of charging is basically invisible (plug in at home, free on the road), so tires have been about half the money I've put into it, it feels like.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    I remember retreads being a thing you could buy for your car in the 1970s/80s. I remember local radio ads from retread shops. I haven't heard of passenger car retreads in decades though, so I don't think it's really done anymore.
- robocat 5y ago
  In New Zealand you could get tyres retreaded decades ago, however it was banned for light vehicles, due to safety reasons I believe. Truck and specialty tyres in NZ still get retreaded by a company called Bandag, and you sometimes see detached tread at the side of the road. I am guessing that retreads are only allowed for dual tyres on trailers, where if a tyre fails it isn’t catastrophic. I imagine they are not allowed for the critical front steering/braking tyres on the tractor unit.
mikepurvis 5y ago
Surely it saves a lot of rubber waste too? Like 90%+ of the rubber mass of a typical tire must be in the parts that never contact the road and therefore should be good forever?
- wcarron 5y ago
  Unfortunately not the case. Tires go through lots of heat and stress cycles. I think most of the heat a tire generates isn't from friction with the road, even. It's internal friction within the tire itself. The carcasses are made of wires/meshes/layers of aramids/steel/aluminum and aren't indestructible, even if durable. And the rubber on the sidewalls gets degraded by sun/dirt/sand/etc, too.
  - mikepurvis 5y ago
    True, true. But from the picture in the article, it sure looks like there's a heck of a lot less rubber overall in this tire— so regardless of what it's been historically, this is a step toward a tire that "consumes" way, way less rubber per X distance of driving, whether due to less rubber being in it overall, or it being able to be recharged with additional tread before being disposed of.

jaclaz 5y ago

Don't forget fridges: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28478438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28478438 Will single tyres e-mail you singularly or as a group? I mean: Hi, I am your left front tyre and wished to tell you how ... or: We, the tyres of your car, have determined that ...

dreamcompiler 5y ago
Personally I welcome our new Tyrius Cybernetics Corporation overlords.
mpol 5y ago
It might work similar to low pressure, where you see the wheel light up on the dashboard. Ofcourse the human part can make the decision on what to do about it, and if you want to replace tyres, how many at once.

i_am_proteus 5y ago

Your printer running out of ink does not have an associated risk of death and injury. Tire wear does. Existing air-filled tires are already "connected" on modern vehicles - pressure sensors that link to the vehicle's on-board diagnostics and inform the driver of low pressure, often before there's any other visible, audible, or mechanical indication that the tire has a leak.

pandaman 5y ago
Modern cars have tons of sensors but none of them are in the consumable parts such as tires[+]. It's important because it means you can use any consumables (gas, oil, coolant, washer liquid, tires) as long as they meet objective physical requirements the car expects. If the tires provide enough traction and are of the correct size then any modern car will work with them fine. "Connected" tires sounds like there is a direct (as opposed to the car measuring the tire's shape in the TPMS from your example) information exchange between the tire and the car, something that does not happen now and appears to be susceptible to the same marketing practices printer manufacturers use. [+] Some cars have "sensors" in the brake pads, which amounts to a wire loop inside the pad, which gets cut as the pad wears down, owners of these cars are not happy about this "feature".
- zardo 5y ago
  >"Connected" tires sounds like there is a direct (as opposed to the car measuring the tire's shape in the TPMS from your example) information exchange between the tire and the car, something that does not happen now Michelin sells a tire mounted TPMS, also available pre-installed. https://business.michelinman.com/construction-industry/services-construction-industrial/michelin-tire-care https://business.michelinman.com/construction-industry/servi...
  - pandaman 5y ago
    Not for cars, though. There is probably a market for tire monitoring in mining equipment, which is probably not constructed with the same built-in systems that consumer cars have.

Arrath 5y ago

Plain old TPMS is finnicky enough, I can imagine this would have plenty more problems.

Spivak 5y ago

It's only terrible because we've created a system that incentivizes it being made purposely terrible for profit. The idea that your tires can monitor their own wear should be a good thing.