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Canadian Man Invented a Wheel That Can Make Cars Move Sideways (nationalpost.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Canadian man William Liddiard invented a wheel that allows vehicles to move sideways. "True all-way drive for anything with wheels," Liddiard says in an online writeup for his successful prototype of "omni-directional" wheels. They consist of a specialized roller-equipped rim that can move horizontally and a tire that is rounded like a donut. "This is a world first bolt-on application for anything with wheels," wrote Liddiard. "Now you can drive in all directions, and turn on the spot, when needed." His demo video titled "you've never seen a car do this...," has received more than 1.1 million views since it was uploaded on May 10th. The wheels are a "proof of concept" prototype right now, but Liddiard says the design would allow them to be made as durable and safe as standard automotive wheels. Omni-directional wheels are nothing new, though they are typically only used in wheelchairs, robotics and other small-scale applications. Honda Motor Co. debuted an omni-directional wheel at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, but it wasn't for a full-sized car -- it was for a Segway-style mobility device. "My wheel can hold ten times more than the other [wheels], while maintaining speed," Liddiard told Postmedia in an interview earlier this year. He's currently trying to sell his invention to a major tire or automotive company.
In a forklift, maybe. In a car? Never.
I want these on every car everywhere. Mandate it as a standard feature. Make it a legal requirement. Let's end the BS that is parallel parking forever.
That bendy-donut tire looks like it would wear out really quickly, stretching like that as it turns.
I'd actually though of this sort of thing before, but threw out the idea as neat idea but impossible to build durably.
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.
I don't understand exactly how these tires work, but having wheels with integrated rollers so that you can move sideways is a pretty old idea, see for example this forklift (video from 2006!).
karma police: arrest this man, he talks in maths; he buzzes like a fridge, he's like a detuned radio. [radiohead]
I'm going sideways, eh!!
Monospace font implies you're talking about fp. I heard Pascal is a dangerous language, but never thought it was that dangerous!
It's completely flat, it will have no "grip" to the ground. I don't see myself using that even during summer, much less winter on ice.
How do the rollers get power, how does the driver control the roller speed and direction, what kind of wear and tear does the tire experience when it is twisting like a smoke ring, will the tires slip on the rollers when the brakes are applied, and what's to keep the tires from coming off the rollers at high speeds or while braking? It sure seems to be adding a lot of moving parts to a simple, proven design just to make it easier to park without having to change the way the wheels are mounted to the car. It looks cool, though.
Australian man invents car that drives upside-down.
THIS is what innovation and creative genius looks like.
Remember that when reading puff pieces and press releases from publicists that call businessmen and financiers innovative or genius.
How would it stop abruptly in case of emergency? If the tire is not firmly glued to the wheel it will slide while breaking..
Not 3D printed, not Elon Musk, not private space, not in the cloud(tm)?
Wow. A tire rounded like a donut? What will those Canadians think of next?
Omnidirectional wheels are not new (1949 german parent).
What is probably new here is that the wheel surface is not a discontinuous set of smaller wheels - it's a toroidal tire that can rotate on the in-out axis. This requires the surface to stretch considerably and is probably not compatible with the requirements for car tires. This has real applications, but standard passenger cars are probably not one of them. This car demo is, however, a great way to attract attention and, hopefully, investment. A forklift just doesn't have the same dramatic effect.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
A few years ago I looked at some old copies of a magazine called "Radio and Hobbies" at a relative's house. In an issue from 1948 there were photos of a prototype parking device like this.
Every year during the first couple of snowstorms you see cars (trucks and buses) do that. Mind you it's not intentional.
There are probably a few applications where these kinds of wheels would come in real handy. But I don't think you're going to be finding them on your average car anytime soon. First off you're decreasing your road contact area significantly and you pretty much destroy your ability to put treading on your tires. Both of which severely impair your traction on anything but the most pristine surfaces. Secondly if you've ever dealt with rubber long term you know these kinds of forces on it will cause it to degrade quickly. Your tires last so long because they only have to flex a limited amount, these tires have to flex much more in order to be rotated like that. If you've ever had a tire with a slow leak (its pressure always being a bit lower than the others) over a long period you know how much of an impact it can have on the sidewalls.
Here's Goodyears version of the Omniwheel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
It's a spherical tire and uses mag lev. it's just a concept not a prototype but it lacks the things you say are essential.
The contact patch of Any tire is identical. It soley depends on the pressure. pressure*area = weight of car.
His tires have 2 times as many sidewalls as a regular tire so it's plausible they don't have to be as stiff.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Traditional Omni wheels are unlikely to be suited for high speed travel but his are uniform (unsegmented) to they more plausibly might work as regular tires.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Also his wheels just bolt on. They don't need a special axle drive to control the multiple degrees of freedom. So you can put them on a non-4 wheel drive car as well.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
The doughnut shape of the tire would not leave enough rubber in contact with the road, to be safe at high speeds. Nor is there any tread to grip the road.
Many cars can already to this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Four wheel steering could achieve many of the same goals of these four-way tires, without reducing the safety and road handling of modern tire design.
It's completely flat, it will have no "grip" to the ground.
This is a common misconception: flat tyres actually grip the ground better than tyres with a tread because they have a larger surface area in contact with the ground which generates more friction. This is why Formula 1 cars have flat tyres when racing in dry conditions. The tread is there because in wet conditions you need channels to get rid of the water between the tyre and the road when travelling at speed otherwise you hydroplane. So the tread is not there to increase grip but to get rid of water and as these tyres are now they will not grip well at speed in wet conditions but they will actually grip better than a treaded tyre in dry conditions.
Okay, that looks kinda cool, and potentially very useful. I can see a boatload of possible uses and places where it would be great to have something like this.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Omni-wheels have been around for decades. Putting them on a car might be novel, but it's definitely not a new invention.
Did anyone notice how sped up the video was?
The car moves at a creeping pace, yet looking at the driver shows the video is sped up a lot. And it STILL looks slow...
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
It looked fast enough to park sideways, but then I noticed the trees swaying in time lapse fashion.
The sooner the world stops masturbating to the automobile the better off things will be.
Common. This must be one of the most stupid ideas ever... For cars.. Can't even imagine what would happen with whose on icy swedish winterroads.
But I assume there can be other applications, the most obvius I can think of is inhouse robots not supposed to carry alot of weight.
For instance patient transportation inside hospitals could become much nicer then the current rather bumpy ride one experience when moved. Usually there is supposed to be two lanes, one in each direction but it's very common to be obstacles along the way making you have to move into "the other lane" and then back. The possibility to strafe would be really nice. (as well as a electrical engine that could be connected to any bed from bellow, aside from saving life it would also save energy on the poor people having to move patients.
Back in the '80s, car makers started putting gizmos in cars: Old technology like air-bags and anti-lock braking stayed. New ideas like driver HUD and four-wheel steering disappeared. It looks like these tyres can't side-slide at speed, so their sole purpose will be parking. How much will one of these tyres/wheels cost? I'm thinking that's a lot of money to enable parking 'for dummies'.
Yeah, and how does he power and control them ? Independent battery in each one and remote control ? Not worth the hassle.
Donut... Tim Horton's
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.