Leave it to the French to try something different--a new prototype platform for electric cars from Citroen doesn't need to steer the wheels, because normal (cylindrical) wheels are replaced by spherical tires, made specially by Goodyear. https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/new-tires-news/goodyear-develops-bespoke-eagle-360-spherical-concept-tire-for-citroen.html
Goodyear introduced the Eagle 360 concept at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2016, with a second iteration, the Eagle 360 Urban concept, following in 2017. The latest iteration of the design features a high level of maneuverability (due to the tire’s spherical shape) and long-lasting attributes (thanks to a tread surface that is four times larger than a standard tire). The tire provides extended range due to a low-rolling-resistance rubber and consistent grip in all driving directions thanks to hexagonal siping.
Link includes pics of the car/platform and the tire tread. Are you ready to drive on big black soccer balls? I want mine multi-colored like beach balls.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:18AM (9 children)
Kinda like a mouse ball, I suppose. Remember those?
My first thought was stopping it falling out but still allowing rotation in every direction will need some kind of friction against whatever retains it, which could increase wear. There's also the question of how you transmit power to it. I'm guessing you'd need smaller wheels or rollers that rub against it, which doesn't seem very efficient. Then you need to add a suspension system to that.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by optotronic on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:39AM (2 children)
I had similar thoughts, and also the complexity of changing a "tire" and the cost.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stretch611 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:49PM
Well to change it, it likely will not be much worse than an existing tire. Elevate the tire, remove one side of the cage it is in (likely no more difficult than removing lug nuts,) take it out of the cage and swap in the replacement.
However a spare may be a more difficult item to carry... I would expect that to take more room in the trunk due to the shape and no "doughnuts."
But truth be told, I would expect some type of "run flat" technology... either a solid core (not necessarily rubber) or even a hollow steel/aluminum sphere as a core which could be lightweight and provide a lot of support for the tire.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:44AM
And the, from the image anyway, nonexistent ground clearance, and the difficulty of giving it a proper suspension, and the inefficient transfer of energy to the "tire", and ...
All in all it looks like a "look what we've actually managed to do" rather than anything that will see any practical use.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:14AM
Once you have seen it you can't unsee it. It really does look like some old ball mouse.
Can it really be cheaper to make then normal tires? They will take up more space won't they? Sure it could change directions fast and such but the wear and tear seems like it would be an issue. A normal tire shouldnt have those issues.
(Score: 2) by EETech1 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:51AM (2 children)
Why are we even touching the road anymore?
https://youtu.be/wCj1kJ1Fyk4 [youtu.be]
Give me a hovercar!
(Score: 3, Touché) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:35AM (1 child)
Well, if you pay for the cost of adding electromagnets and controlling electronics to every single road, as well as maintaining and operating those systems, I'm all for it. If I have to pay for it, not so much.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:25PM
It will be covered by SOLAR FRICKIN ROADWAYS
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:26AM
Yeah, and I also remember the problems that those mice often had, when the ball wouldn't rotate because it picked up some dirt. And the mouse was operated on a relatively clean surface, not on a dirty road.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:30PM
Easy. You have jets on the car that provide thrust, with a housing that lets you vector that thrust. If you get stuck in the mud you can deflect the blast downward to hop out. If you get stuck in traffic, you can do the same and hop over other cars.
It would make for some pretty great driving hijinks, too.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:20AM (8 children)
Apparently, 25km/h maximum speed
Some reports suggest the motors are INSIDE the tyres (tires) - possibly there is a set of magnets on the "rim" (sphere?), which could mean that the whole pod could magnetically 'levitate' inside its cage.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:49AM
25 km per hour. Hell I've seen guys on an electric skate board going faster than that around here. It does look kinda like a skate board though.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by corey on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:53AM
That’s where I was going in my thinking too. It can’t be orthogonal rollers like in an old school mouse, that’s just too inefficient I’d think. Wonder if they’ve come up with some fancy 3D spherical squirrel cage AC motor? Ie. electromagnets on the outside and inside the “tyre”, a set of bars arranged so as to effect magnetic spin when provided the right magnetic field. But then how to levitate the ball…
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:27AM (1 child)
Another link, this one has several pics of different "cabins" that can be fitted on top of the skate:
https://www.autonomousvehicleinternational.com/news/concept-vehicles/citroen-previews-vision-for-autonomous-mobility-pods.html [autonomousvehicleinternational.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:35AM
so seats
or a bed
or a gym..
seats could be sticky
bed will be icky
gym will be stinky.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:55AM (3 children)
The steel belts required to keep the tire spherical at 25km/h could be used as motor windings, I suppose, but not very efficient. I see nothing about magnetic levitation in the summary. My bet would be rollers of some sort, but I'm not sure how they would be arranged.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:55PM (2 children)
I would expect this to be built like a golf ball or a baseball. Multiple layers, the inside not necessarily rubber. A spherical rebar cage near the surface would likely replace "belts."
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:20AM (1 child)
That would be much too heavy.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday October 07 2021, @04:20PM
The center core could be a hollow aluminum sphere which would reduce weight while the structure of the sphere would provide a lot of structural support.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:24AM (4 children)
Driving on the freeway, you try to drive defensively, look left, look right, look behind.
And then this "car" does crab walk and smack you straight from the side at 80mph.
The price of "progress" - thanks to this brilliant frog/yank collaboration.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:21AM (1 child)
> And then this "car" does crab walk and smack you straight from the side at 80mph.
And then the computer controlling this "car" loses its 6G connection, it crab walks and smacks you straight from the side at 80mph.
ftfy
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @12:31PM
And then at the accident scene when everyone is milling about, a Tesla sees the emergency vehicles and plows into EVERYBODY!
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:24AM (1 child)
Acura, Audi, Cadillac, BMW, Ferrari, Lambo, Mercedes, Lexus, and Porsche all already make cars with regular tires and 4-wheel steering. What keeps them from doing a crab walk into the side of your car? I'm pretty sure that there was a Toyota Celica in 1992 that also had 4 wheel steering. There is a good chance that you've been passed on the highway by a car with 4 wheel steering and didn't even know it.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:35AM
That 4-wheel steering was on Honda Prelude (a pretty car, I must say, back when Honda produced attractive, interesting, and reliable cars).
Regardless, this isn't a 4-wheel steering, this is a vehicle design that don't have no conception of front/back/left/right. It's a "car" with four spherical balls for wheels.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:01AM (2 children)
I think such modular platforms would be ideal for transporting stuff, because they can be pushed/pulled in all directions.
Probably a lot easier/safer than a tiny stacking mashine basically holding a large tower in it's "hands".
For a road? Maybe if you add a regular powered wheel in the middle of the platform, that you can rotate at will.
But I'm not sure... like other people said, old mice with wheels had serious dust issues.
And, in order to use a wheel for accelerating, you need to put weight on that wheel.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:00PM
So it's an overgrown, very expensive, hyped-up, shopping trolley.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Coligny on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:27AM
I love moron stating the obvious to bring their ray of sunshine on a topic they discovered in the last 2 minutes it took them to read the article summary… try to read aboot “MULTI DIRECTIONNAL WHEELS” Bubba.
Crown still belong to the absolute cretin gloating about spider like hydraulic legs for helicopters undercarriage… because helos are so hard to move while on the ground…
And the weight of such hydraulic bondoogle would never be an issue for aircrafts whose ability to fly rely more on a pact with Sumerian demons rather than physics….
If I wanted to be moderated by mor0nic groupthinking retards I would still be on Digg and Reddshit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:10PM (1 child)
No way is that ever going to run on a typical road.
Speedbumbs, potholes, waterplaning, snow, ice, tire changes, tire cost, asymmetric tire wear, punctures, cleaning just to name a few problems.
Good luck with this one...looks like an operational, maintenance and environmental disaster.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:31PM
It does look a bit odd for that. There is a great future for it in warehouses tho, even tho they already have robots there that can do the work. But it might be more suited for that.