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Reinventing the Wheel
bob zee sent in this link about reinventing the wheel, err, tweel, err, whatever. Wheels are an interesting challenge in engineering design: they need to be hard to be durable, soft for a smooth ride, grippy to grab the road, but smooth to reduce rolling resistance, flexible to absorb shocks, yet stiff to reduce heat build-up, and so on. Rubber tires are a relatively recent invention.
If the article (and test) is accurate, almost nothing's good about this Tweel, but let's not give up hope yet. If lobbysts have their way, a new noise-reduction pad and better suspension will be "invented" so that problems like noise and feel of a coarse road surface (introduced by this Tweel) can be eliminated.
It's like somebody created an OS, but it's full of security holes, fear not, we can always create software like firewall and anti-virus to solve those problems.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
What a novel idea! Better apply for a US Patent! (hurry, or someone else will and sue you for infringement)
Snow Crash
In all fairness, this really isn't reinventing the wheel. The Tweel is still a wheel. They did reinvent the tire though.
Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
my bet is that it's a cutout to show you how it's made inside, if not they could put this on off road vehicles treading water
Are you an idiot? No, seriously. That was a CUTOUT so you could see what it looks like inside! Do you think any engineer would be so stupid to design a tire like that? If it didn't have a cutout, someone as ignorant as you would proclaim that it looks no different than a typical radial!
A blog like any other.
I got one Dec 18th (this last one), at 2:00 in the afternoon, and had to change the tire in sub-zero temperatures. I couldn't get warm for the rest of the day. Then I tried to get it fixed that day so that I didn't have to drive to work the next day on one of those donuts. Unfortunately, noone was open because it was Sunday.
I could do without going through that again.
"...At the end of the day"..."when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself." RIP Layne Staley
Maybe I'm just getting old and crochety but why do we want to reinvent the wheel? It seems to me that the current technology is more than adequate and has advantages that the tweel will never match. First, I can buy wheels, and tires that meet my needs and offer combinations of style, price, and performance that would take many, many different stock numbers of tweels to even approximate! Second, the modest tire is a proven comfortable technology. Frankly, it would be hard to sell me on something else.
I drive a 4X4 with what I would describe as very modest tires that carry a 60,000 mile rating! They cost less than $150/tire installed and they are running on "alloy wheels" which came from the factory. For less than $600 I can replace them and run them for another 60,000 miles which equates to almost four years of my daily use! That is a negligible cost when you think about it.
My tires perform just fine on dry pavement, dirt roads, snow-covered roads and even on wet roadways. Hell, I don't hardly think of them which when you think about it, is about the best compliment that you can pay tires.
My tire dealer gives me free rotation of the tires and it does them good too because I always get an oil change and safety check when I come in for a rotation. So, to me, in essence my current tires are all but maintence free.
This has been my experience for years and years. Tires have become that good. Why would you want to give up this kind of reliability? I can't think of one good reason.
In the not too far future, cars will basically be designed like a cheap printer. When it breaks you will just throw it away and buy a new one.
The cars will be made out of mostly composites and plastics. This means that you will need to hire a specialist to do even the most minor repairs.
Every aspect of the car will be electronically controlled and monitored and you will need special equipment to even begin troubleshooting the numerous electrical problems that will crop up. There will be so many electronic controls that if there is an electrical problem; basically it's non-repairable.
Many car manufacturers are planning on sealing up the engine compartment and the engine itself. New super-lubricants are developed to last the 'life' of the car. (Previously on Slashdot)
The Tweel fits into the same category. The major gripes of it are that it incorporates the tire, rim, and hub all into 1 package. When something like this goes mainstream, forget about custom wheels. Right now there is a big market and all sorts of different tires available for the consumer. If there is a specialized product like the tweel, then it would basically be a monopoly.
The pneumatic tire has been around for 100 years and it has been constantly improved for the entire time. There is very little growing room for the tweel.
Current models are heavier than a standard wheel. This increases the rolling mass which makes it harder to accelerate and stop. They will eventually get old and with all the stress they are likely to fail and collapse. Plastics become brittle with age and with all the stress they would be taking will cause them to fail and cause a nasty accident.
The new marketing strategy of the throw-a-way car will claim it's safer and more fuel efficient because of the weight savings. It will eventually lead to having to recycle your car about every 10 years.