Kyoto prof rolls out omnidirectional wheelchair
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - 05:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- A mechanical engineering professor has taken the wraps off his vehicle that is designed to become a next-generation wheelchair. As its formal name suggests, this is the Personal Mobile Vehicle, or Permoveh for short. Rolling it around at his lab in Kyoto, Japan, earlier this month, the professor carried out the demo before an audience of observers and photographers. They watched him ride the device, with its clever wheel-within-wheel system, which allowed the vehicle to move in any direction. The Permoveh has four same-sized wheels with 32 rollers each. They rotate in a perpendicular direction to the rim. The rollers sit inside the main wheels, allowing the vehicle to move in more directions than just back and forth.