Driving and steering wheel system for ITER gets patent
Can the wheels of a vehicle spin around their axis while steering continuously? This would appear to be the dream of many people who have trouble parking their cars!
Alberto Vale, Ricardo Oliveira and Rodrigo Ventura are the inventors behind precisely such a mechanism. The device, called "driving and steering wheel system for omnidirectional vehicles" was invented and patented under the R&D activities of remote handling for the cask transportation in ITER.
A vehicle fitted with this kind of wheels is able to move in virtually every direction with the same versatility. This is an extremely useful capability for moving around heavy loads in confined spaces, such as the corridors around the main ITER chamber... or maybe, in the future, that tight parking lot at the shopping center!
Full information:
Driving and steering wheel system for omnidirectional vehicles
Inventors: Alberto Vale, Ricardo Oliveira, Rodrigo Ventura.
Applicant: Instituto Superior Técnico
Ref. PT106574, with the international classification B60B 19/12 (2006.01)
Filled October 2012, published in 2014
