Next Hot Product: Smart Wheels

A south Florida company that developed a wheel hub-mounted micro-generator to power in-wheel vanity lights says the next step is providing electricity for applications that improve the performance of wheels and vehicles.

Intelligent Power & Light LLC's micro-generator was originally developed for the company's $259 Glo Ryder remote-control wheel light product. The product consists of a special center cap with LED that is powered by a bottle-cap-size micro-generator and capacitor. Operators use a remote control to turn the wheel lights on and off and change their color.

The company says its technology also could be used to make wheels "smart" by powering a microprocessor that could communicate with the car owner's mobile phone or in-vehicle processors.

Monitoring tire condition and providing precise GPS location information are among the possible uses of a processor powered by the in-wheel generator, the company says.