wheels
Images are sometimes not shown due to bandwidth/network limitations. Refreshing the page usually helps.
You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-canadian-man-invented-a-wheel-that-can-make-cars-move-sideways
>The age of parallel parking may soon be over thanks to a literal reinvention of the wheel by Canadian man William Liddiard.
>“True all-way drive for anything with wheels,” Liddiard says in an online writeup for his successful prototype of “omni-directional” wheels, a specialized rim and tire that can allow any car the ability to move sideways.
>The tire is rounded like a donut and sits within a specialized roller-equipped rim that can move the tire horizontally. The result is a wheel that can allow any car to “crab” side to side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-TOV-NBD70
>>55381423
So can I forget how to parallel park now?
how do you "invent" a wheel?
>>55381423
The number of cuts in the video could be marked as disturbing.
>>55381423
Unfortunately, if he thinks ' the design would allow them to be made as durable and safe as standard automotive wheels' them he has a nasty surprise coming.
Of course technically he is probably partially correct - the rims would post no problem.
However the tyres themselves? Not a chance, sorry.
Standard modern tyres combine a lot of technology to make them work as well as they do in griping, and most of that technology basically results in them not having a round cross section. The main width of the tread is close to flat, the sidewalls and base contain strong reinforcing bands, the bead carries large loads and the tread depth varies greatly from the center to the edges - all of this contributes to their effectiveness.
His 'invention' required the tyre to return to being a true 'doughnut' torus shape, which is a TERRIBLE shape for a tyre if you want any traction, as the contact patch is tiny. His invention also requires the torus to rotate on itself, placing huge stress on the inner and outer surfaces as it rotates sideways, which will result is high wear and low lifespan.
Basically, sorry but it is a non-starter for anything outside short lifespan, low load and low speed applications, and problem that is already well solved with sidewinder/mechanum 'tyres' which are a group of cones, and suffer for less issues than his system would (although speed is still a major issue, and traction a medium one)
Still, the media will love it, and people will 'wow' at the example video. A set of car wheel skates/dollies let you push a car around like this at low speed quite easily already, and have been around for a long LONG time - and are about as practical.
Can it drift?
God is going to punish us for this
>>55381423
This isn't exactly a new idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjcyHicm3NA
>>55381849
It can drift in two axis at the same time with enough power.
>>55381840
Could still be useful for forklifts and such, couldn't it?
This is what "I don't understand the problem" looks like.
The stress on that rubber when it's going in all directions is phenomenal. You're then going to expect it to drive at 70mph forward for hours at a time.
It's "cool" but it's totally impractical and unworkable. Conventional rubber tyre inner tubes are covered with a real tyre (made of steel, rubber and all kinds of layers) for a reason - the inner rubber is intensely fragile and doesn't take kindly to exposure and/or to lots of movement. It certainly won't take kindly to you sliding over stones laterally.
You are literally going to pop your tyres every few hundred miles of use. And as others have pointed out the complexities involved (in braking a tyre like that under extreme stress - 70mph to standing - it's just going to want to slip) mean that it's expensive, untested and impractical beyond belief.
And, I'm sorry, but this doesn't solve parking problems. It creates them. Idiots can park this in a space next to a conventional car making it almost impossible to get back out with a standard steering setup. Until everyone parks sideways, for the cost of a couple of inches of parking space each, it's just liable to misuse.
And I bet this "invention", brought to market and passing safety tests, will a) never appear, b) cost more than you could ever get by shrinking parking spaces by that fraction of space that it "saves".
>>55382025
no, see >>55381974
>>55381974
does anyone else get reminded of THPS from that song?
>>55381423
I think I remember reading a story that was the exact same thing but years ago
And they were wheels for shopping carts
>>55381423
Great for him.
But they're hideous. Nobody who enjoys cars and their aesthetics would buy it.
Nobody will regulate these as is. Irregular tread use. This would not work for me in my Pennsylvanian winters.
>>55382187
It's practical in extremely congested city-work ala NYC or Tokyo
![JBT-C30i[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/mghlrzp.jpg "JBT-C30i[1].jpg")
>>55381974
I thought of this when I saw the thread. I work at an airport and the air freight loaders use very similar technology to manipulate containers. The rollers on the loader decks are exactly like the wheels in that video.
Yeah that's terrible design. The tires wouldn't last at all in normal use.
Spherical wheels like the ones in the cars in the movie I Robot would be awesome though, and a lot more viable.
