Michelin Unveils Their 3D Printed Tire Concept

3D-printed airless tire will never leave you stranded with a flat tire pic.twitter.com/HY6v7iqWxy

— Mashable (@mashable) November 12, 2020

Okay so I don’t even understand how radio works. I sit in a room and talk into a mic and those vibrations are carried along and come out as words on your speakers. Thank god we don’t have to know the engineering side of the business in order to work in it.

The point is, I’m consistently amazed by technology’s capabilities and 3D printing really takes the cake. A few years ago, they were talking about being able to 3D print homes that could sustain hurricane-force winds in Florida. Of course, we then have to think about what that may mean for insurance companies, construction companies, and beyond. There are ripple effects to progress.

Recently, Michelin dropped their concept design for 3D printed tires (what you watched above). And that’s dope! Being able to repair a tire on your own while you’re on the road?! That’s crazy! And then I think, well what does that mean for tire manufacturers? We’re home to one of the largest tire manufacturer (literally, the biggest tires size-wise), could we lose those jobs? What does this mean for mechanics? I’m not sure how much of a mechanic’s income comes from tires. I’d imagine that a majority of the work is the upkeep and smaller repairs, rather than major ones.

Would the tech advances do more harm than good? Does 3D printing create jobs? People have to create the software and design, they have to build and maintain the machines. They have to market and sell. But I’ve seen what technology has done with radio. And while most of it is good (yay to not having to hand pick every single song every single day), it also allows one person to voicetrack (record) 10 shows every single day, so…one person working compared to 10 people working.

Anyway, I thought the tire thing was dope and wanted to share.

Cheers,

Amy