Improvement in rough road performance with 'Wheels that transform into triangles'

Reconfigurable Wheel-Track ( RWT ) ", a completely new type of automobile wheel that enhances the running performance by making the shape triangle when running on a rough road such as rough terrain that is not paved at normal times, Military technology development agency " DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Bureau)" has been developed.

DARPA Literally Reinvented The Wheel For Army Combat Vehicles
https://taskandpurpose.com/darpa-wheel-combat-vehicles/

RWT is developed as part of " Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T)" development project of vehicles with light weight and high defense advanced by DARPA. You can see how it actually works with the following movie.

Humvee with reconfigurable wheel-track DARPA GXV-T - YouTube


American military vehicle Humvee ( R / C ) equipped with front and rear wheels. You can see that the wheels of the front wheels are changing to a rice pad type.

RWT can change the shape of the wheel to two kinds. Normally it is like a circle like this ... ...

When running on rough terrain or unpaved roads, the shape of the wheel changes to a triangle like this. By doing this you will be able to travel reliably even in bad conditions such as the muddy ground.

RWT can change the shape even while driving. If I thought that I was running as a round wheel ... ...

The wheel changes to a triangle in only about 2 seconds. At this time, since the wheel is fixed and only the outer black belt part moves, the car body does not rattle.

You can see the mechanism well by watching the wheel up. The wheel is equipped with a special device that seems to be hydraulic type, and the shape changes due to movement of six silver portions in each wheel.

When turning into a triangle, the angle of the silver part changes.

RWT is a technology being developed and it is said that the schedule of concrete practical application is undecided. DARPA is developing various technologies, and in the following movies, vehicles that can be operated remotely by mounting the same laser measuring device "LIDAR" as those used for automatic driving cars, and obliquely inclined slopes But you can see a new technology such as a vehicle that runs without difficulty.

Demonstrations of DARPA's Ground X-Vehicle Technologies - YouTube