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Transforming Wheels and More: DARPA's Experimental Military Vehicle Technologies
By Rain Noe - Jun 25
Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center has, quite literally, reinvented the wheel. They've developed a shape-shifting, tracked wheel that works as a conventional tire--until a button is pressed, and it reconfigures itself on-the-fly into a tracked triangle:
Enter a caption (optional)The RWT (Reconfigurable Wheel-Track) is one of five fancy tricks rolled out by DARPA's Ground X-Vehicle Technologies program, which "aims to improve mobility, survivability, safety, and effectiveness of future combat vehicles without piling on armor." Take a look at the other four nifty technologies they've developed:
I'm digging the spider-like vehicle with the super suspension, which has a shocking (see what I did there) six feet of travel--42 inches upwards, 30 inches downwards. However, I would definitely throw up inside that windowless vehicle with the teal and magenta road lines on the screen.
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Rain Noe
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.
2 Comments
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Damnation Alley wasn't the best movie ever, but it had a simpler, more effective system than this, and in 1977. It was real - the film-makers decided it would be easier to build an amphibious vehicle that could drive over broken terrain at high speeds than use special effects. It's often better to look into prior art than to design techno-overkill solutions from scratch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmaster
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That's what you should've bought instead of the VW Alltrack
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Continued Reading
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By Rain Noe - Jun 21
Volkswagen's Trailer Assist System Makes Backing Up That Caravan Easier
Europe has so many neat things that aren't offered in the 'States: Beer at McDonald's, constitutional monarchies, Volkswagen's Trailer Assist system. On the recommendation of reader Jeremy Mears, I looked up the latter to see what it's all about. Backing up a trailer is like parallel parking set at difficulty
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By Rain Noe - Jun 19
A Designer Buying a Car, Part 5: Volkswagen Golf Alltrack, Aesthetics and Practical Considerations
Volkswagen offers two types of AWD stickshift station wagons: The Golf SportWagen S with 4Motion, and the Golf Alltrack (in three trim levels). Both are identical except the Alltrack has a marginally higher ride height. I narrowed it down to the Alltrack for a practical reason: The Sportwagen S offers
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By Rain Noe - Jun 19
A Designer Buying a Car, Part 4: Subaru Forester, Aesthetics and Practical Considerations
In contrast to the Mini Clubman, the interior of Subaru's Forester looks sober and utilitarian. Nothing here screams for your attention, which is what I prefer. However, the exterior loses me right away. The designers have repeated the sin of everyone producing a crossover these days, which is to introduce
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By Rain Noe - Jun 19
A Designer Buying a Car, Part 3: Mini Clubman, Aesthetics and Practical Considerations
An architect choosing a house to buy, a fashion designer shopping for a shirt, an industrial designer buying a car: We are extra picky within these categories because we've spent time studying them, and we know how the sausage is made. It's important to me, when selecting a car,
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