These guys did a thesis and built a great little toy for kids. Unfortunately they were unable to bring it to market for liability reasons. No brakes and it gets going too fast.

Excellent concept to make into a vehicle. Use electric motors instead of hand cranks. Possible to make a sports wheel chair too!

From the videos they basically mounted 32 wheels around a single wheel and are able to do some nifty maneuvering.

Stick a electric motor and joystick controller on it and a sleek driver pod and it should be a blast.
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007

Flowrider Videos http://www.miksovsk...r/videos/videos.htm
[Shapharian, Sep 21 2007]

Youtube Flowrider Video http://www.youtube....watch?v=VTlxpuI1QcI
[Shapharian, Sep 21 2007]

Ideation http://www.miksovsk...eation/ideation.htm
What the inventor wanted to do. Not what you expect. [jutta, Sep 21 2007]

Wikipedia: Omni-Wheel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omni_wheel
What this form of holonomic wheel is called. [jutta, Sep 21 2007]

Halfbakery: Holonomic Cars Holonomic_20Cars
The overall genre. [jutta, Sep 21 2007]

Meccanum Wheel Chair http://www.chiefdel.../media/photos/25712
With a kind of holonomic tire - these are actually one step up from plain Omni Wheels. [jutta, Sep 21 2007]

Those look fun, and this idea seems like it would be more fun, BUT, It would be extremely dangerous for practical road use.

This might be ok as a 'toy', but probably not for a car.

If you moved this idea to a different category like Product: Toy: Transportation, I would bun it.

If this vehicle was somehow much more controllable, possibly with computer assisted controls to lessen the complexity of maneuvering the thing, then I would rethink the possibility of it as a car.
-- BJS, Sep 21 2007


Isn't this supposed to be a site for your own original ideas? Help file.
-- normzone, Sep 21 2007


His 'idea' is to make it into an electrically driven "car".
-- BJS, Sep 21 2007


Let's just make it bigger and build a base with batteries. Add a electric hub motor inside their funky wheel with damping springs. A joystick controls all the motors.

Your off having fun.

Its an innovative coasting tire design...

Maybe we can mount three wheels in a triangle at 120 degrees and have complete omni directional movement with better control.

The three electric motors and sensors can stabalize the ride and provide braking.
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007


Adding power to something that's intended to encourage collaboration because one driver doesn't quite have control over where the vehicle is going? ... Don't forget the side impact airbags.
-- jutta, Sep 21 2007


Easy Jutta... The idea here is to apply this style wheel to a car and not a toy. There are many existing industrial and robotic omni directional wheels, Mecanum wheels and holomonic drive systems but this is the first design that i have seen with the ability to free coast.

This would be efficient for driving but has one big problem. No Brakes, even when you stop the wheel the polyurethane perimeter wheels continue to free roll.

Any ideas or suggestions on how to add brakes to these wheels?

One idea would be to have three wheels mounted at 120 degrees and reverse power. Build a 2 seater drivers pod, use electric scooter motors and you endup with a unique driving vehicle.
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007


Easy: Turn them sideways. Any rollerblader knows that!
-- jutta, Sep 21 2007


Maybe use them for a new and improved segway ?
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007


Yeah, I was thinking that, too. If you had a computer monitoring the direction of slide, it could probably turn and brake a lot more quickly and precisely than a human, without requiring actuators inside the outer wheels.

In the You Tube video post, the inventor lists "too many parts" as the number one reason this couldn't make it to market - I agree. I don't think these wheels would be anywhere as cheap and robust as current car tires. They'd have to cost thousands of dollars, each.
-- jutta, Sep 21 2007


Polyurethane wheels and bearings are $2 each retail. 32 per wheel which killed the toy market.
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007


For road brakes, do what [jutta] says: somehow get the main wheels pointed in the direction of travel, so the perimeter wheels are not rolling, then stop the main wheels. For parking brakes, put down some sort of kickstand.

Shapharian, you should only post a highly-derived pseudo-idea like this IF and AFTER you have solved problems like adding brakes. If you see something the inventors didn't see, maybe you have something Halfbakery worthy. Maybe. But this is just a wish, one that you want someone else to make come true for you.

And, aside from flailing down the street sideways, it doesn't even have a useful purpose, except your delusion of low cost. If you did manage to put motors, a braking system and driver's pods on the thing, it wouldn't be any lower in cost than any other vehicle. The wheels cost MUCH more than plain wheels, and you've got to add control systems out the wazoo. But you delude yourself that it would somehow cost less than any other vehicle.

It's obvious that you have little comprehension of mechanical devices and how they function. Nor do you understand the Halfbakery and how it works.

A sideways sliding fishbone.

(Sorry, [jutta], I probably shouldn't snap like this in an idea that you are discussing, but this guy is really getting me chapped.)
-- baconbrain, Sep 21 2007


I hear ya bacon.. Humor me for a moment.

Picture a 5' circular drive pod that rotates to always faces the direction of the slide/travel riding an active circular track instead of the hex cover and three bearings.

The drive wheels are dampened and attached to a circular drive track mounted under the pod track and rotates freely independent of the pod. The drive track can spin and control movement but the pod always will face the direction of travel.

The two drive wheels are mounted outside of the pod frame.The two free moving balancing wheels contain disk brakes.
-- Shapharian, Sep 21 2007


This could be adapted into a sport wheelchair for a sport like basketball. People are willing to pay more money for a custom wheelchair.
-- bungston, Sep 21 2007


Bone: the vehicle is not held rigid when brakes are locked. That's an important safety function that cannot be achieved in this vehicle.

Unless you were thinking that the driver should always turn the vehicle to point uphill at stops. Even then, the vehicle is only held in one direction; a strong wind or a chance impact sends it moving again, possibly into traffic.

Fleets of these cruising about a closed course would be a blast and I would cheerfully pony up a few bucks to take one for a spin. But in traffic? Not even at gunpoint, buddy.
-- elhigh, Sep 24 2007



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