Technology used by NASA for its Mars Rover mission will soon be made available for the public to use. The SMART Tire Company has announced its first space age tire. These are not your regular tires; they will be made from super elastic material called NiTinol+. The SMART Tire Company is also set to collaborate with Ford Motor Company to develop a shape memory alloy for electric scooters. This could be huge step towards providing smooth and secure transport to the users.
These tires will be made utilizing campany’s Shape Memory Alloy Radial Technology (SMART). These tires are said to never go flat and never loose air. These contribute to making it indestructible and one of the best in the market. A unique feature about the SMART Memory Alloy is that, when bent, it is able to rearrange its molecular structure and will be able to resume its former shape immediately.
SMART company is fairly new, founded recently in 2020. It is currently in a partnership with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the Space Act Agreement. This agreement is a part of NASA’s program to commercialize some of its innovations. The name of these tires will be ‘METL’. These tires despite having no air on the inside are said to provide better traction in comparison to their regular counterparts.
The SMART Tire Company wants to expand its technology further into automotive and commercial vehicle industry. The METL tires are expected to be launched for the general public in the early next year. Having developed with the help of shape memory alloy (SMA) technology by NASA engineers, these tires can never get punctured. The tires are entirely constructed out of inter connected springs thus require no inflation and have excellent shock absorbing ability.
These tires can assure the rider a safe and smooth riding experience and are quite light and durable. Also due to the fact that they are manufactured with SMA incorporated, they are equipped with better safety features by providing better traction on concrete, gravel roads and uneven surfaces. This is also possible due to the fact that these tires are made up of Polyurethanium, a material which provides the rider with a strong grip and tread all over the year and in all weather conditions.
These tires manufactured by NASA itself can last without ever needing any maintenance and replacement which are caused due to leaks, tears, messy sealants or even punctures. Equipped with this the SMART Tire Company is all set to take over the $250 billion international tire market. They’re all set to provide a cleaner and safer alternative for tire manufacturers and users worldwide.
Brian Yennie, co-founder and CTO at SMART Tire said, “We argue that there are externalized savings and benefits that increase the benefits beyond just weight. For example, for many cyclists simply ditching spares and repair tools saves more weight than the delta between [SMART’s tires and regular tires.]”
Keeping all the above factors in mind, the METL tires are most like to cost more than average bike tires. Also the tires do not fall under the “ultra light” category as they weigh a bit more than usual. This could put the road cyclists at a disadvantage who might find these tires too heavy to use.
