The future is coming faster than you think. Your car may soon have cyber tires that can communicate with your city.
When we think of the future of driving, we often think of flying cars or autonomous vehicles. While companies like Tesla and Waymo are making the latter idea a reality, there’s another futuristic advancement coming soon: cyber tires.
F1 fans and car enthusiasts may be familiar with the name Pirelli. The company is a global Tyre Partner of Formula 1. They design the tires that are used on the race cars. Their latest development introduces a wild new technology to your ride: the cyber tires can talk to your car to give you feedback about your driving. And the company says that soon they may be able to communicate even more.
What Are Cyber Tires?
Pirelli boasts that “Cyber™ Tyre is the world’s first integrated hardware and software system capable of collecting data from sensors inside the tyres, processing them through Pirelli’s proprietary software and algorithms, and communicating in real time with the vehicle’s electronics.”
By collecting this real-time data, Pirelli can develop”new features that are fully integrated with the driving and control systems.” This data will allow them to focus on “enhancing the driving experience and improving safety.”
How Do Cyber™ Tyres Work?
The company explains that Cyber™ Tyres have sensors embedded in them that can communicate with your car’s electronic system and, using 5G technology, can display the relevant information on your screen. They claim that it’s “just like having a team of Pirelli’s race engineers team working for you.”
How Are Cyber™ Tyres Different From Regular Tires?
Your typical tires have tire pressure sensors that will let you know what the pressure is and whether or not it’s too low. Pirelli says that their tires go beyond that. In addition to tire pressure, Cyber™ Tyres can tell you things like your tire temperature- including when to start warming them up and when they need to cool down, and when you’re reaching the top speed recommended for the tire performance.
Will Cyber™ Tyres Work on My Car?
Currently, Pirelli offers three types of tires with the Cyber™ Tyre technology: the Pirelli P Zero™ (PZ4), the P Zero Corsa, and the P Zero Winter. Unless you’re driving a high-end supercar, hypercar, or F1 car, you probably can’t fit the current tires onto your vehicle. But as time goes on, it’s expected that the company will also develop tires with this technology for more affordable cars, not just the McLarens and Audis of the automotive world.
Can These Tires Communicate with My City?
Not yet, but the company hopes that that will change soon. They say that “the next step for the future of Cyber™ Tyre will be the connection and consistent dialogue with other vehicles and surrounding infrastructure.” So you don’t have to worry about your tires snitching on you to your city just yet. However, it’s possible that all that data they collect can one day be transmitted in real-time.
Source
Cyber™ Tyre, Pirelli.
