The Michelin Group has won two awards recently for its tire innovations.
French researchers Agnès Poulbot and Jacques Barraud won a 2018 European Inventor Award from the European Patent Office for an “auto-regenerating” tire tread that was marketed by Michelin. Their tire tread design, made by 3-D metal printing, not only increases durability but also significantly decreases fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while safeguarding a better performance of used tires and their usage in all seasons to a maximum level of wear.
Marketed as the RegenionTM tire technology, the technology has been available in Europe for heavy vehicles since 2013 and passenger cars since 2016.
The company also received a 2018 Creative Prize at The Tire Cologne for its Track Connect, an app that collects temperature and air pressure data via sensors integrated in a passenger car tire to provide real time data to drivers. The technology was designed specifically for sporty and ambitious drivers. The sensors are continuously calibrated with track and weather values entered in advance, and if required, they advise the driver to adjust the air pressure to improve performance. The Creative Prize “recognizes the high degree of innovation of the new smartphone application,” the company says.
