Airtrax Omni Directional Wheels

In a simple effort to make more posts to keep people interested in my blog, I have decided to start making some tech posts too.  this post will be one of those.

I have long known what an "OmniWheel" is, having seen them on toys years ago.  An OmniWheel is a wheel and tire assembly designed in such a way as to be able to travel in any direction without stopping or changing the orientation of the wheel.



I was watching a TV show this evening called "Prototype This" in which a team of engineers attemps to build prototypes of far fetched ideas, such as Virtual Reality controlled 12 foot tall "Rock-em Sock-em Robots", and cars that can lift themselves into the ait and drive above other cars in traffic or parallel park above other cars.

It was in the latter episode that I was introduced to the "AirTrax" Omni Directional Wheel. The team goes to AirTrax and is given a demonstration of AirTrax's "SIDEWINDER ATX-3000" lift truck.



The SIDEWINDER ATX-3000 Lift Truck (fork lift) is currently the only Omni-Directional Lift truck commercially available worldwide. Click on the image to read more about the ATX-3000 Lift Truck.

Some other resources:
http://www.airtrax.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_x0RgVzfc

I might also suggest looking up WowWee's "Rovio," the mobile webcam.

Springs reply

OMG!

THANK YOU!!

My first Official Sponsor!

W.B. Jones Spring Co., Inc.

http://www.springsfast.com/

Springs Fast has provided all six springs for the truck and will receive in return, a 1/4 scale bumper sticker on the truck as well as the trailer, plus honorary mention on the show board for the truck!  (A show-board is similar to the 3 panel cardboard display behind your science fail project and contains before/during/after photos, credits, and special thanks type information, to be displayed with the truck at car shows, fairs, etc.)

THANK YOU very much "D." and everyone at SpringsFast and W.B. Jones!

Mike from DC.

Springs response

I have received a response from the spring supplier.. It seems that they may be able to provide the springs at NO CHARGE!

They have asked for pictures of the truck. Unfortunately there are no pictures as there currently is no truck :P I mentioned to the the videos that I have taken of the engine, etc. (which I will post in my next post). Hopefully the videos will be enough for the moment.

Mike, at DC

Email Posts and Newsletter

I have learned that I can email posts to the blog now without having to sign in or anything, so hopefully I will post more often. I can NOT add labels or anything from the email though, so will have to log in once in a while to sort posts.

I have also learned that posts can be emailed directly to up to 10 addresses immediately. I have 8 left. If you would like to join my "mailing list" please leave a comment on this post. If you do not want your email address listed in the post, post here anyway so I can keep track, and email me your address later.

Truck springs

I have found springs for the truck at very reasonable prices.

the specs of the spring are:
O.D. 1.47
Wire .125
Length 2.00
Rate 43 #/in
Max safe load 47.20#

this means that the outside diameter is just a little less than an inch and a half (which translates to 6 inches in diameter in full scale), the wire is one eighth of an inch thick (or half inch in full scale), The spring is 2 inches tall (or 8 inches). It will take 43 pounds to compress the spring 1 inch, and will accept a max of 47 pounds. Because of the geometry of the rear suspension, any weight on the axle will be divided between the pivot point at the front and the spring at the back, so each axle will support MORE than the springs maximum specifications without overloading the springs.

Front springs on the truck will be out of site inside the cab, but the back springs will be out in the open. Since trucks like this used leaf springs, not coil springs, I decided to slip the springs inside lengths of bicycle tire tube to hide the spring and simulate an air bladder in an air ride suspension set up.

The springs are $5.69 each, and I need six of them. I have made an offer to the supplier that I am waiting for a reply on. If the supplier will provide the 6 springs at no charge, I will advertise their company permanently and prominently on my truck. I will post the response when I receive it.