Researchers from the South Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) have proposed a unique idea: that of a “changing wheel” that adapts to surface obstacles in order to overcome them. The study has been published in the journal Science Robotics.
The team that has developed this unique variant of traditional wheels has shown its implementation in a wheelchair that was capable of avoiding all types of obstacles, from curbs to potholes and even stairs.
The possibilities of this type of wheels are, according to those responsible, enormous: they could be used both so that robotic vehicles can transport groceries to the home in an even more autonomous way, but also so that military robots can reach certain objectives while avoiding various obstacles.
Although there are non-pneumatic wheels or airless tires that have flexibility, their ability to overcome obstacles is limited. The wheel developed by this institute is regulated by a series of sensors that react to the terrain.
In the demonstration carried out in Reuters, a wheelchair with this modification was able to climb stairs with 18 cm steps. They also put a mannequin on the chair to simulate its behavior with a load.
The chair is capable of reaching speeds of up to 30 km/h and according to those responsible for it, it can overcome obstacles that are 1.3 times higher than the radius of its wheels.
Sung-Hyuk Song, one of those responsible for the project, indicated how a vehicle or robot with these wheels “is capable of overcoming obstacles while maintaining a high efficiency of movement comparable to conventional wheels.”
Image | KIMM
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