A different kind of Omnidirectional Wheels
Not sure how long the tires would last on a car, but they would be cool on a Quadrover.
http://time.com/4389652/wheels-cars-roll-sideways/
http://time.com/4389652/wheels-cars-roll-sideways/
Comments
I don't think normal tire material could handle the kind of stretching required this this sort of application.
While I think the video is real, I don't think it's real-time. There are several scenes where one can see trees and leaves moving in strange ways.
Take a look at the leaves on the ground and the trees in the background at 1:22.
I predict these will never be produced commercially for full size cars.
It's a dumb Smile idea anyway.
-Phil
Given the stringent expectations of modern cars and the demand on their tires I would expect any normal driver, even granny, to spin out at the first bend with those tubes.
On the other hand. With the prospect of cities full of self driving vehicles, I hesitate to call them cars, groping along the side walk at 5 mph, perhaps this guy is onto a winner.
This is what I see when logged in, but I can't see any of my comments from an incognito browser window.
IMO, this makes William Liddiard a slimeball.
There are ton of money making scams alive and well on an internet populated with people with no technical education or even a grounding in critical thinking.
Some of them attract a ton of investment over many years, like Meredith Perry an her Ubeam:
https://ubeam.com/team/
Not sure if I should laugh or cry.
Post editted. Watch the language please.
I think the original concept pretty cool and I think there may be applications for wheels like these. That said, any respect I had for the inventor is swallowed up by my disgust for the inventor for not allowing valid criticism of the device. Heck the comments I posted were hardly criticism. I was just pointing out the video was sped up. The inventor had previously mentioned he thought he had used too high a gear ratio for the motor turning the tires so my observation wasn't necessarily pointing out a flaw in the finished project, just pointing out a characteristic of the prototype.
Agreed, that wouldn't be fair to Jim. Take him to Detroit!
Still ... bargains to be had:
-Phil
Pretty mild abuse really.
More seriously, people pushing nutjob ideas in the hope of attracting huge investment, see ubeam, need to be exposed. The investors need to be warned.