All kinds of new types of smart braking technologies are popping up, but I have yet to see anything like Autoliv’s Torricelli brake.
The Torricelli brake uses extreme suction to grab onto the road, and while it’s still a prototype in its testing stage, the video below makes it look very promising.
How the Torricelli brake works:
Sensors and hydraulics automatically tell the brake, which uses a metal plate and is mounted beneath the vehicle, to drop to the ground when it needs to stop.
In a mere fraction of a second, the metal plate uses suction to create a vacuum that exerts approximately 15,000 Newtons of force on the surface of the road!
This, in turn, reduces the vehicle’s stopping distance by up to 40 percent.
Pretty sweet, huh?
Obviously, stopping a car by way of suction has its downfalls, namely the crazy amount of G-forces that could potentially lead to passenger injuries.
The Torricelli brake should be able to find an application in settings where cars are not traveling at high speeds.
