New Civilization News: Square Wheels    
 Square Wheels7 comments
picture 5 Apr 2004 @ 16:57, by Flemming Funch

From Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends. So, you didn't think a bicycle could have square wheels? Well, it all depends on the surface you're riding on.
Stan Wagon, a mathematician at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., has a bicycle with square wheels. It's a weird contraption, but he can ride it perfectly smoothly. His secret is the shape of the road over which the wheels roll.

A square wheel can roll smoothly, keeping the axle moving in a straight line and at a constant velocity, if it travels over evenly spaced bumps of just the right shape. This special shape is called an inverted catenary.

A catenary is the curve describing a rope or chain hanging loosely between two supports. At first glance, it looks like a parabola. In fact, it corresponds to the graph of a function called the hyperbolic cosine. Turning the curve upside down gives you an inverted catenary -- just like each bump of Wagon's road.
OK, so here's an idea: What about wheels that dynamically change shape quickly enough that they always fit whatever road surface you're going over, so that you can always have a smooth ride. And we might become less attached to smooth surfaces.


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7 comments

5 Apr 2004 @ 17:29 by bushman : Hmm, lol.
Well the cops would probably ban morphing tires, it would render thier stop sticks useless, and people would take advantage and cut thru the park to get around a busy inersection, lol.  

5 Apr 2004 @ 20:41 by maxtobin : Oh dah
Thanks for this Flemming, now I have a sneak insight into the 'slightly unusual mind set' of some of the folk I met while in the area a while back when Alana and I got together. Must say that this shines some light on the twin cities mentality, could be the water is contaminated and has this effect. Hey I guess its done because it can be done and shows how smart this person is!! Is it not the function of a 'shock absorber' to smooth out the road bumps?  

6 Apr 2004 @ 05:39 by jstarrs : You're...
...beginning to sound like you're bored, Ming ;0)  

6 Apr 2004 @ 11:17 by ming : Bored
Heheh. Hey, if I ever feel bored, there are plenty of ways of getting myself unbored in an instant.  

6 Apr 2004 @ 11:43 by swanny : Shock Spring Assembly Buffer
There doing work with hydraulics in Calgary to help the lauch pads
at Nasa ...... I'm wondering if you could use round wheels but have
a hydraulic spring buffer system to sort of float on the wheels.....
I used to have a big ol Lincoln and that thing was like
a battleship on the highway...... vista crusier...... here we come
An air suspension spring hydraulic system like those hoverjets....

sir  

21 Feb 2013 @ 03:22 by asifsound @114.16.38.75 : Musashikoganei Square Wheel
--- What about wheels that dynamically change shape ---

Such square wheel on the flat road.
Look at this.
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~the_imai/etymology/Musashikoganei.html  

3 Sep 2016 @ 08:52 by yusu @103.212.147.248 : GC
thanks for sharing this useful post and happy ganesh chaturthi to you and all readers.  

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