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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.
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.
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.
Parallel parking isn't exactly science and replacing it not necessary. Staying on the road in corners at higher speeds, however, is.
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".
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.