PaTS-Wheel: A Passively-Transformable Single-Part Wheel for Mobile Robot Navigation

[@AJ-Palermo]

When reinventing the wheel is actually a pretty good idea

[@deecat2018]

Make shit more complex when you give normal things money to get a bit more versatile stat while lowering durability stat

[@dragbag1616]

Is it? Now do the test again with good rubber on the normal wheel

[@dragbag1616]

"Humvee Climbing Vertical Wall" The U.S. military engineers solved this issue a long time ago. The solution is called "soft tyres and a f*ton of ground clearance". But you know, post a video vaguely scientific on KZbin and suddenly people think it's the new sliced bread.

[@CLove511]

New meta just dropped, the phrase is now "Reinventing the Wheg"

[@dragbag1616]

@ThePursuitWOD Doesn't matter, this design is only valid if you don't have good rubber to begin with, because rubber wheels don't have any issue scaling walls many times their size.

[@VoxAstra-qk4jz]

They did it. They reinvented the wheel.

[@durt214]

@@rgw5991 Living rent free in your head

[@micaheiber1419]

@@rgw5991 More likely Ukraine will, Russia is still only using heavy robots with tracks (specifically on the ground, obviously), this wheel is useless to their drone doctrine. I don't think it's very useful to Ukraine either though, they mostly use robots on flat roads and in fields, so they might not bother either. Light robots are a much better tool for urban search and rescue, than fighting a war.

[@rgw5991]

@@micaheiber1419 🇷🇺🪆💪❤

[@Duskydog419]

@@rgw5991 im sure its already being used

[@XxZigonxX]

Firestone moment

[@hellNo116]

I freaking love when someone solves such a problem so elegantly

[@shy_dodecahedron]

The tear&wear though.

[@hellNo116]

@@shy_dodecahedron yeah that is a compromise. the thing is that this is another new option. that doesn't mean it is the best option. it can easily be a bad option. however it is a cool piece of tech and a really cool idea. maybe it is not applicable only professionals in the field can answer that. i only do computer and programming in a professional level

[@byGDur]

100%

[@dragbag1616]

A problem that been solved better and more elegantly before... soft rubber tyres can climb vertical walls better. KISS. Keep It Stupid Simple. "Humvee Climbs Vertical Wall"

[@Nafinafnaf]

​@@dragbag1616 this could still have use in certain applications. Its not THE best wheel, just like an offroad tire and a racing tire has its pros and cons, this wheel and other designs has its pros and cons.

[@darklord-rf8yd]

I remember watching a video from Veritasium about compliant mechanisms. It's cool to see another practical application of such an interesting concept.

[@Philosophaster]

Compliant mechanisms? Say more

[@TheGrundigg]

@@Philosophaster google it

[@daleryanaldover6545]

I watched it too a long time ago

[@turolretar]

Non compliant mechanisms are put into a special prison

[@Philosophaster]

​@@turolretar ah yes that checks out 💯

[@pfoe]

This is exceptional work. Novel, low complexity and useful.

[@Alex-ck4in]

​@ThePursuitWOD Id guess about 5 revolutions

[@lohikarhu734]

You clearly have no idea of the structural properties of even simple single-material design,,,polypropylene hinges, for example, in ultra-cheap consumer products, last thousands of cycles, and, in an application like this, use of two-shot molding allows better material choices for each part...but, hey...

[@gabrielevalentini5905]

@@lohikarhu734 you arent any smarter shut up

[@darrennew8211]

@ThePursuitWOD I'm guessing if that becomes a problem, you stop printing it out of one lump of plastic and actually use hinges and springs.

[@TomYourmombadil]

@ThePursuitWODif you design it with the right plastic and range of motion, and spec it for weight that limits the maximum stress on the linkage, you can make it so the weakest part reaches an infinite fatigue life. The teeth could have millions of cycles available to each, and also those cycles are being distributed across all teeth on the wheel. Then it’s just about pure loading stress, and idk if you’re just using this on little robots then I’m sure it can more than handle the force of its own weight

I'm wondering about longevity, as it seems that when climbing the weight of the robot goes to flexture. On larger size these could be rods and bearings effectively eliminating flexture stress.

[@thrishantha]

Yes longevity is the next focus. We are thinking of spring steel and vulcanized rubber in the next iteration for heavier loads.

[@HidForHG]

@@thrishantha Well if the wheels could be made out of a higher grade filament. That or another version that gives it a more optimal durability trade off. Then it would be perfect in colony situations. Where you would want as many things as possible to be made from the least amount of specialized resources. Esp if the material can be recycled a large amount of times too. Meaning it's just so much simpler to replace the wheel that wears out and use the material to make more filament. Reducing the strain on the colony. It couldn't work in the modern economic model of extreme disposability with NO reusability/recyclability. A colony on another planet can't make use of near slave labor on cheap low quality materials to flood a 'market'. In this case the source of wheels. Can't just ship across a planet and get it rendered down for nothing and resold for massive profits. It needs to be self contained and long enough lasting to make it work the effort and energy put into making and setting it up.

[@Ashmurtagh100]

For robots Designed for long term work would have a much bigger budget so you could easily use hinges or bars and bearings to make this much more robust

[@williamross6477]

@@HidForHGThat’s a really interesting point. Longevity is a lot less relevant when it requires a complex manufacturing process that isn’t readily available. Better to have wheels that need to be reprinted every few weeks than ones that last a year, but need replacements shipped 140 million miles from earth anytime they break.

[@microcosms2420]

Flexture stress is one thing, but I cannot help but notice that as soon as wheel rotates to a point past the claw, the claw quickly retracts and sends the whole wheel crashing down on itself.

[@critical_always]

You'd think everything obvious has been invented and then this comes along. Bravo!

[@MakersMuse]

Absolutely awesome work, and a passive solution too!

[@DJBillyQ]

yo Angus! I'm glad to see you still watch and comment on videos from smaller uploaders like this! Gotta stay current, and this invention's definitely one of the cooler ones I've seen recently. 😁

[@nidodson]

I will never stop loving single part solutions. Would love to see other terrains, sand, mud, snow, ice... and see how far all of it can go. Because this technology is exactly the type of thing that can be sold to NASA, for a TON.

[@AlephCasara]

whatever money they make is not really my problem, but if this tech could improve space exploration it would be MASSIVE, but rovers wheels already have a similar system and higher durability so i dont really know about it

[@overdramaticpan]

This is really cool! Perhaps the first time we've seen the wheel be reinvented in a productive manner.

[@benw7616]

You forgot about the invention Omni Wheels They allow for travel in multiple directions with fewer points of rotatinal inputs then it would otherwise take Other things: spokes, metal tires, rubber tires. All have gone on to reinvent/improve the wheel in some way. And thats not even a full list of stuff.

[@dr.cheeze5382]

Don't forget the new wire net wheels made by NASA, those could prove to be excellent on rovers

[@overdramaticpan]

@@dr.cheeze5382 I did forget them - my bad!

[@keenanevans7888]

Itll be cool to see what challenges these designs face and how engineers can adress them

[@thekingoffailure9967]

I’d consider tank treads to be replacements for wheels but that could be controversial

[@AeromatterYT]

I love when a passive mechanism outperforms an electronic one. Using the contact pressure itself to extend the claw is inspired, keep it up!

[@TheQuark6789]

Not only a clever design, but a clear and concise presentation that conveys how it works and why it's useful. Well done!

[@thorbenh]

I love it, BUUUUT having competed in many a robotics competition you will HAVE TO pack spare wheels. And whatever number you come up with, double it just in case.

[@dr.cheeze5382]

Exactly, the design is great, but this probably sacrifices so much durability. Wouldn't be surprised if it had less than half the cycles to failure of the other wheg.

[@Lunageldia]

This was what I thought the moment I saw flexible material joints. No matter how good a design is using living hinges, every cycle on it adds stress, and it WILL fail eventually. The wheel being a single part also means that while simple to manufacture, as soon as ANY part of it breaks, the whole wheel has to be scrapped because there's no way to repair it.

[@vertigo2893]

@@Lunageldia Just print a new one :) But for applications where long term durability is a concern, I guess the same idea can be implemented with hinges and springs

[@wyattdray3928]

Do you mean VEX or FRC

[@MikeTrieu]

​@@LunageldiaSo make the living hinges out of a material that's designed to survive unlimited flexures like nitinol.

[@thundersheild926]

I've always thought that compliant mechanisms were cool, but never seen any good real uses of them, at least until this video. That is a super cool wheel design you guys have come up!

[@dilutioncreation1317]

Curious about cycles to failure

[@NonJohns]

Didn't nasa make titanium joints for their telescope or something

[@TheAechBomb]

​@@dilutioncreation1317probably not a lot with the basic print-in-place design, but scale it up a bit and use springs and hinges and it'd last quite a ling time with a little grease

[@lohikarhu734]

If done in a molded form, in the polypropylene used in 'living hinges', or a two-shot process, with fkexures and treads selected from appropriate materials, could quite robust, and, as well, easily replaced, possibly designed to be repaired ...

[@harrodharrod5239]

I mean, they are used in space exploration. Isn't that a good real use?

[@hwells8528]

This is a fantastic design, and it looks cool. Also, your presentation is fantastic. The images, video, and description are clear and easy to follow. Congratulations on such a cool project and I hope it makes you absolutely loaded in the future.

[@kezia8027]

Phenomenal. What a novel concept! And so simply implemented. This is a masterpiece of design and engineering.

[@1234fishnet]

Excellent. Now let's make a lot of comments to boost the algorithm. Your design deserves it

[@ValeBridges]

I don't know why KZbin recommended this to me but. Well, I clicked so, I guess the algorithm knew what it was doing. Nice video, I like how concise it is.

[@dinoscheidt]

Great 😑 now i need to search for my roomba on all floors of a house…. Great design!

[@8Mev]

Do you have a monster Roomba with huge side mounted wheels?

[@khalborg]

My concern as a non-mechanical engineer is the load limit the flexer joints. 1) At 0:23 we see that a single “leg” is supporting a parcentage of the drone’s weight to lift it up. Would that subject the joint to a lot of stress? I think further study would be needed to how much load the Pats can effectively take. 2) The design shown has 4 segments that comprise the single wheel. if a single joint fails due to stress, how much of the wheel would remain usable? How Would increasing or decreasing the the number of segments change the efficiency of the Pats wheel? 3)i get the significance of the design being “ single part”- but instead of a single thick disc would it making a design comprised of multiple thinner discs placed in staggered degrees of rotation introduce redundancies, or improve traversal efficiency on non flat surfaces?

[@Fairfieldfencer]

Not sure how practical this would be in uneven terrain, but this would be terrific for anyone in a wheelchair that had to deal with stairs.

[@southerncyan4098]

Assuming there was also an inbuilt system in the wheel for creating higher torque (to lift the device up the stair) with something like an onboard gear box of sufficient load capabilities, that sounds like a great idea, as it could be purely mechanical.

[@aarongarmon3809]

I would love to see a video of all the designs and trials leading up to this! Very graceful design. Bravo. Maybe some crazy KZbinr could put a big set on a 4x4 truck and climb things!

[@dragbag1616]

"Humvee Climbing Vertical Wall"

[@WhatEver-wz1nt]

Let's tag all the creators we know. I would love to see @colinfurze have a go at it!

[@salsamancer]

Practically speaking this would not be a great wheel for offroading. Just imagine one of those tiny delicate joints breaking. Now you need to replace the entire wheel in the field

[@oberonpanopticon]

@@dragbag1616nah for that you need the bad piggies wheels

[@_p-x-l_]

i bet it would be hard to make these strong enough to carry a load of 2.5 tons or even more

[@everydayistacotuesday9847]

I don't know why youtube recommended me this but this is really hype and creative!

[@nirodha7028]

Nice! This can easily be ‘upgraded’ to flexures from (spring) steel for much heavier vehicles. Lovely solution! Edit: just subbed to your channel… with content like this you deserve many more than 335 subs :-) Love to see where you all take this (seems to be a team effort)

[@benjamin_f_gates]

This is such an elegant solution 👌

[@lukehill6395]

Wow, very impressive. I love watching videos about compliant mechanisms, because even though a functionally similar part could be made using traditional joints and pivots, it would be prohibitively expensive, difficult, and/or fragile. 3d printing and compliant mechanisms solve all of those problems.

[@UraTrowelie]

This is amazing. Geniuses over here. I'd love to see your wheel run through these same tests but with small river stone in place of the turf.

[@Xalarh]

I wonder if in the future, a design like this could be used for construction equipment or ATV. I feel like the challenge would be in finding a material that supports the structure best.

[@TheFoxfiend]

Oh dang, you guys actually reinvented the wheel in a better way.

[@driverjamescopeland]

I'm fascinated with compliant mechanisms. This is awesome!

[@dr.cheeze5382]

Very elegant, clever engineering using compliant mechanisms, however the big question here is durability. How long can a 3d printed compliant mechanism really last? You are relying on those tiny compliant joints to literally do the heavy lifting.

[@thrishantha]

Yes longevity is the next focus. We are thinking of spring steel and vulcanized rubber in the next iteration for heavier loads.

[@ghazzz]

For many applications, hours of life per set of wheels is acceptable.

[@heyNXS]

I love it when technology streamlines things instead of giving us more problems.

[@JonnesTT]

I love when someone solves a problem that I had no idea existed 😅

[@The_Flying_Yeti]

This is fraking awesome! ... so simple, so elegant. As a product designer, Hats off to you guys. Well done.

[@whit9250]

Absolutely genius. You asked a question it seems no one else did, "what if the wheel shape wasn't static?"

[@jlco]

I think some of the designs shown at 0:49 are dynamic, but the problem is that those ones aren't passive.

[@hansjmo]

Wheels on cars are not static though they are elastic and moves quite alot

[@uBreeze]

Many, many, many, people asked that. They came up with a different solution.

[@toutenmagma7140]

I had this exact problem in mind quite a few times without ever reaching an elegant solution this is so cool!

[@lohostege]

Imagine scaling this up to a full size airless rubber tires for rovers. Seems kinda cool

[@dr.cheeze5382]

Quite similar to the wire net wheels NASA is developing. But this design is definitely much more reasonable to imagine in a factory setting than another planet

[@trouty7947]

Biggest issue with using this on a rover is debris. If a rock or sand gets caught in those compliant mechanisms on earth, you can just clean it out. On mars, if turning the wheel very slowly doesn't fix it, it's there for good.

[@JohnYow1]

for stability in climbing, perhaps engineering both wheels to be able to move back to a same checkpoint on their rotation would allow them to present the claws at the same time for steps, whilst still being able to tackle unequal obstacles.

[@xzydra570]

I imagine this would be really easy to implement with some kind of rotation encoder honestly, tricky part might be stopping errant movement from wheel sliding though

[@MrBlakBunny]

i do recall battlebots now has a ledge in the arena, i wonder if this could be used to give a combat bot an advantage in traversing

[@HalfWolf2]

Likely, but then the concern would be the strength of the wheels, as they'd be easier for an opponent to disable, also of course anything with enough ground clearance would be an easy target for a flipper Not that it's a bad idea ofc, it's just execution would be difficult, maybe making only the rear wheels like this, with the system seemingly backwards, so it can climb an obstacle backwards while facing the opponent to keep itself safe?

[@NotSure416]

I remember back in the 80's I had this toy truck called "The Animal" that had claws that popped out of the wheels to help it climb over stuff. Loved that thing.

[@charliehague5739]

1:09 The pad is depressed? Oh no..😢hope things get better for the pad.

[@737Garrus]

Reinventing the wheel. Bravo!

[@aintdrian]

The "Wheg" shape reminds me of a famous painter from Austria.

[@MineBossGamer247]

yep

[@heimskr2881]

Ls going to the left is for the silly Austrian guy. Ls to the right is the Buddhist symbol of good luck

[@aintdrian]

@@heimskr2881 didn't ask

[@Hawk7886]

​@aintdrian yikes

[@Rebel-ji7xn]

Hello how r u

[@UmmonTheLight]

The big flaw in my eyes is that now most of the weight needs to be held by that one hinge. Even if the leg part pushes inward against the inner sections. And it's pulling on the hinge instead of pushing. This optimizes the area of contact with whatever the robot is climbing but would limit the payload. One idea i had would be sections that either collapse inward so the weight rests on stronger parts of the normal wheel ring. Or they could potentially push these thicker sections out a little. Or I guess you could reduce the amount your hinge travels before the leg part connects to the inner section. That would reduce the strain on the hinge.

[@Ottonymos]

I'll bet the failure rate on each of those many joints really adds up; wonder how it performs once two or three of the claws are flapping in the wind.

[@anonymousapproximation8549]

This isn't a counterargument, but It's held by two separate hinges.

[@nicolasalvarado9485]

This is so cool! Could we get an stl to play with it?

[@Dindonmasker]

Just take a screenshot and model it the from the profile lol

[@nicolasalvarado9485]

@@Dindonmasker modeling compliant mechanisms is quite tricky, i could do it but it would take quite a few tries to dial the thicknes of the joints.

[@TheChillieboo]

Awesome actual real world usable flexure! I’m super impressed!

[@muffinproject]

Interesting, but absolutely not for "unstructured environments". platforms, stairs etc are most definitely structured obstacles. If this were to drive over a couple of twigs, or some similar thin obstacle a bit off the ground, it would clasp around it like a carabiner.

[@RoadToSalvationX]

Such a beautiful and elegant solution to this problem. Great to see.

[@ComradeDylan-801st]

Man that “wheg” looks kinda OG 🥶

[@Schlohmotion]

kinda buddhist, right?

[@MoltenSamurai]

Love new techs like this. Additive manufacturing opens up so many avenues for innovation.

[@schizolab]

This wheel can bear little load and has a lot of weak fins that can break off. I remember there's a triangle shaped water jug stairs carrier wheel rack that can carry huge water bottles up the stairs, it's very proven and robust.

[@varungp]

Link?

[@xzydra570]

True, but for low weight load applications this seems like a godsend IMO.

[@itspizzatime8622]

There is something about getting a random engineering video on my KZbin feed that makes me so happy. I just think it’s so cool that even though humans have been around for so long, and to my every day life it seems as if we have stopped developing, cool things are still happening in the background.

[@buddhikap.desilva2897]

Interesting. nice work

[@djsnackcakes2795]

This is one of the coolest uses of compliant mechanisms I've seen yet. Great job to you and your team

[@Philosophaster]

Jesus take the ...uh...

[@adampisula6432]

wheg

[@danieltandello5074]

Incredible. I am absolutely flabbergasted by this simple yet eficient design.

[@derschwereGustaf]

At 0:48 they even showed the German one!

[@dylankirdahy9591]

This is very cool, I love how it can be easily 3D printed as a single part.

[@alexholker1309]

Interesting idea. Since the force-reversing linkage is asymmetrical to be biased in one direction, I'd be curious how much effect - if any - the transformable wheel would have when reversing - whether it would be more or less than the 25% step height of the normal wheel.

[@thrishantha]

We have made a symmetrical coupling later. Now it is reversible.

[@adamflyshotmail]

I work with AMRs and the stuff in this video is out of this world to me.

[@ichhabekeinenplanvonmeinen7892]

I am writing this comment because I think your wheel as well as your video on it are very good. With this comment I want to help you to get your video recommendedore often

[@ThatOneGuyYaKnow]

Holy cow an actual good 'reinventing the wheel' now that is amazing

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Truly a engineering marvel. So simple yet so effective

[@vauhner81]

Excellent job! Simple idea, beautiful execution.

[@myperspective5091]

In daily use in non-concrete non-industrial settings it could pickup hair and loose thread and possibly small stones. Both would probably depend on how sharp the edges are and how grippy the material it is made of is.

[@jaspertaylor4441]

This is amazing, the idea that the linkage would be enough to actuate a grip deployment is genius. I can’t wait to see some sort of rover integrate this!

[@scobeymeister1]

Yo, this is awesome! Idk why the algorithm picked this for me but I'm glad it did. Well done to your team! 😊

[@panda4247]

This is cool. I suppose the big question will be durability, since mane of the applications of such wheels require the to last long without the possibility of replacing (e.g. space rovers)

[@0therun1t21]

This kind of thing is what's been getting me into wheels lately, there're so many ways they can transform and all are interesting and beautiful, but not all are as practical as this one.

[@draqonfyre4385]

a beautifully elegant presentation on a beautifully elegant reinvention of the wheel

[@tyler3201]

I love finding little videos like this that show some cool idea that can change how we live, travel, etc. Very cool wheel guys. Might see this on unmanned wheeled droves from rescue operations or bomb disposal.

[@juanmiguelsebastian1477]

The first proper reinvention of the wheel I ever saw

[@lacikeri3102]

Wow, I really like this. Congratulations nice design! I am upgrading my robot vacuum cleaner with this solution, and it finally doesn't get stuck on the edges of thicker carpets.

[@venoltar]

I wonder how well the compliant mechanism works with variable payload weights? I can foresee possible issues with over/under weight loads causing the mechanism to either constantly be triggered by the floor itself, or not trigger sufficiently when it hits a step(though I presume increased friction would help there to some extent). Regardless, I really love this concept as a solution for fixed designs.

[@trentw6806]

Yooooooo the basic design looks like one of those switches that people 3d print, thats so ingenious and crazy

[@Wiseman501]

This is genius! Amazing work my boys.

[@koenvanduffel2084]

This is s breakthrough for so many situations. I am especially thinking of electric wheelchairs now. Being able to climb even a single step makes a huge difference fir these people.

[@T3chIdiot]

Ive always loved compliant mechanisms, this is just genius!

[@glennbrymer4065]

Most excellent! Great engineering! Very very good all around.

[@rabbidowl1235]

Just finished a college course on compliant mechanisms, this is awesome!

[@hughobyrne2588]

Very interesting. If a load were to be put on the vehicle, though, would this press on the pads and extend the claws and make for a bumpy ride on a flat surface? Is there a height of step where the pressure of the corner of the step doesn't manage to hit the angle needed to extend the claw?

[@applemirer3937]

I love when KZbin randomly shows me some interesting mechanism.

[@MrFranklitalien]

wow fantastic use of compliant mechanisms!! definitely something to integrate

[@Scrogan]

Very neat, but I imagine it could be bad for getting gravel and other chunks getting stuck inside those flexures.

[@davynolan182]

Do you think you could make a tracked version where the wheel extends outside of the rim and the belt, it could be useful on all terrain robots where 90 degree angles are concerned. That way you could compete with spot from Boston Dynamics when it comes to terrain versatility without crazy torque. Passively adaptive wheels could be superior to ‘legs’ in every way, not just most ways.

[@stefanhuber7357]

Incredible work! The wheel has been reinvented

[@jeremybrossman8520]

I had the claw as a kid, that truck went everywhere!

[@MRawesome202]

The main drawback is that there are a bunch of inbuilt points of repetetive flexure that i would imagine lead to more common failures, how much weight can bear on the tiny flexure point after it hooks onto the terrain?

[@That_Darn_Guy]

Brilliant 😮this should be near the top of my feed.

[@CiviliZayden]

Would love to see a 3D printable file! I could potentially test it on sand and snow

[@mrwakacorp]

Fantastic design guys! Truly fantastic!

[@juanloutech2864]

Neat! Simple yet efficient design. Congrats!

[@kurtczp]

Great work! Only downside is I feel you would have to convert the wheel into an assembled piece anyway in order to get significant load out of it. Otherwise this definitely bridges the gap for legged robots for sure!

[@RighteousDevil808]

There was a toy kind of like this in the 80's called "The Animal". It was a motorized monster truck toy that would passively pop tiger claws out of its wheel treads to climb obstacles

[@htomerif]

So: 1, how does the performance of this wheel change as the load is increased? It seems like it only functions for a fixed weight vehicle. 2, how does it perform on terrain with snags? You've already pointed out that it isn't for warehouse floors so outdoor environments seem likely. Will it just permanently get stuck on the first stick or cat-6 cable it runs over? 3, that's great that it increases the longevity of the robot from reduced vibration. What's the longevity of the wheel? I'm guessing it goes down sharply as the force on the wheel goes up, regardless of flat or uneven terrain. It would be interesting to see it printed with a dual extruder and TPE added to the road surfaces and obstacle catching surfaces.

[@meeb_consumer]

freaking genius. Though, durability seems like an issue considering all the flexure will slowly wear it down, as well as friction, considering you can't really put a tread on it.

[@ghazzz]

This is a fantastic design. Given a sandy flat and a "well placed" cylindrical obstacle, ~20mm diameter, does it dig much? I guess I should just print and test...

[@eliasmarq007]

Holy crap this is actually insanely amazing!

[@eliasmarq007]

The only downside I can see would be with speeds, but then again I don't imagine this being used in a fast-moving vehicle.

[@alonequanceappears454]

These are going straight onto my rc crawler...

[@bruce-le-smith]

fantastic, thank you for sharing. i would've never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense in 2min!