Car security systems have become so advanced over the last decade that traditional methods used by car thieves don’t work anymore. However, this has prompted many to turn their attention to car parts, including alloy wheels. Protecting your car’s set of alloy wheels with locking nuts and special keys is an option, but a new technology promises to take this option to the next level. Ford says it has developed a 3D-printed locking wheel nut made using a unique biometric signature that is based on the car owner’s recorded voice. This biometric signature, much like the ones that make use of iris scans and thumb prints, will ensure that no tool but the one cut with a matching pattern can unlock these nuts. The process includes recording the owner’s voice for a minimum of one second, and converting that soundwave into a physical, printable pattern. This pattern is then turned into a circle and etched on to the nut and the key. The nut and key are designed as one piece and 3D-printed using acid and corrosion resistant stainless steel. Once printed, the nut and key are separated, with a small amount of grinding required to make them ready for use. “It’s one of the worst experiences for a driver, to find their car up on blocks with all four wheels gone,” says Raphael Koch, Ford Advanced Materials and Processes research engineer. “Some alloy wheels can cost thousands to replace, but these unique rim nuts will stop thieves in their tracks. Making wheels more secure and offering more product personalisation are further proof that 3D printing is a game-changer for car production.” EOS, the company that Ford has teamed up with to create this special indentation technology, has also designed a second-level security feature that prevents the nut from being cloned or copied. They say the unevenly spaced ribs inside the nut and indentations that widen the deeper they go prevent a thief from making a wax imprint of the pattern, as the wax breaks when it is pulled from the nut. Instead of the driver’s voice, the contours can also be created using design elements specific to a vehicle, such as a logo, the driver’s initials, or the layout of a racetrack.