3 ms·
Interestingly, on the video it appears as rotating wheels that change inclination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68YMEmaF0rs&t=203s https://www.youtube.com/wa
by mrtksn 3y ago
Interestingly, on the video it appears as rotating wheels that change inclination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68YMEmaF0rs&t=203s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68YMEmaF0rs&t=203s
From the close-up shots, you can clearly see them rotating and changing inclination.
By changing inclination they can control the contact surface of the rotating wheels and as a result control the direction of your movement. Very clever and simple but might be dangerous(you wouldn't want to have your pinky stuck between load bearing rotating wheels) and prone to tear and wear due to the high dynamic friction.
However, if there's actually a way to make it sticky or slippery with ultrasound then you can get away with a partial rotation back and forth while turning it sticky in one direction to push the objects in that direction and turn it slippery to reset its own position and get ready for another push. This probably will make it quite safe.
- smusamashah 3y agoThat's what I am still confused on how these discs look like wheels to people because lots of comments are saying that. All I see is discs changing angles and can't see them rotating like rotating wheels.
- mrtksn 3y agoAt 3:33 there's a close up and you can see dirt stuck on the edge of some wheels and it clearly goes around. Maybe, the part that goes from slippery to sticky with ultrasound is beneath the rubber disks and when there's no load they just rotate freely?
- thrdbndndn 3y agoIt looks to me that they're spinning than rotating; in other words, rotate around an axis that is perpendicular to the ground, instead of parallel to the ground. And because of this, the person above is stepping on the "spinning surface" (the "base" surface of a cylinder) of these tiny disks, instead of the curved surface like a normal wheel or some industrial conveyor wheels (as someone linked below, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRS0Uj2WdpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRS0Uj2WdpA ). So in a sense, they're not "rotating like rotating wheels" despite being wheels/disks. BTW, it looks like they also can adjust its axis angle slightly (less than 30 degree), which I imagine is also crucial to how it works.
- mrtksn 3y agoThat's what I mean. Rotating around their axis, which is spinning. Like the world rotates or spins. And by wheels I also mean disk, probably disks is more precise just as the spinning but really don't see why anyone would be confused when there's a video. But anyway, thanks for improving my English.
- thrdbndndn 3y ago(Text here is removed due to bad wording.) To mrtksn: yeah I think your original post is pretty clear. But there are indeed other comments in this thread that are confusing the two.
- mrtksn 3y agoYeah probably but there's a minutes long video with close ups. In my mental model its wheels attached in different way that rotate around an axis perpendicular to the ground. I call in wheels because moves the things around. I'm really confused by the confusion. Isn't it obvious on the video that its cylindrical objects that can be considered thick disks and wouldn't all disks rotate on the round surface around the axis?
- bear141 3y agoI also found the close up video to be self explanatory but I understand the confusion. People are thinking of it as multiple tiny treadmills that change direction rather than the spinning disc it actually is.
- smusamashah 3y agoEnglish isn't my first language but if it people were referring the motion as spinning instead of rotating and discs instead of wheels it wouldn't be confusing.
- spyder 3y agoYep, and by tilting the spinning discs/cylinders you can have omnidirectional control by changing which part of the edge of the rotating cylinder is in contact with the surface above it. You don't need the ultrasound thing posted in the other comment, that patent may be a different path they've also tried.