Making the Next Gen Wheels
Who does not know the phrase “do not reinvent the wheel”? That phrase has stood to meaning that one does not have to come up with new ideas for something that already is working perfectly. The wheel has proven to be the most essential of men’s many inventions. Indeed it has found many uses from transportation, to engineering, to improving mobility and promoting continuum. It has been a basis for many of the modern day conveniences we have from our CD players to wind generated electricity. Aside from the four wheels we see in vehicles, inside our transportations are various auto parts that also use the principle of wheels in functioning.
After its conception, the wheel has developed quite 
sluggishly, never going far from the wheel and axle still used in many of our transport systems today. This perhaps, is just a proof that the concept is near perfection with little if no need for innovation.
Today, however, a brave group of French scientists from Osmos have gone into doing something that others have branded as stupid. They have just reinvented the wheel. What they came up with is a hubless wheel reduced to its essential part: the outer ring.
The hubless wheel was from an idea by avant-garde entrepreneur and motor car enthusiast Dominique Mottas, which he developed more than a decade ago. The idea was to reduce the rotating part of the wheel to its bare minimum. The new wheel is basically made up of two components.
A rotating part made up of a tire, a centre-free rim and a brake ring all integral with the rotating outer ring of the bearing. This is attached to a non-rotating inner ring of the bearing on which the vehicle’s steering system is directly attached.
The lack of midwheel structural constraints for this type of wheels introduces a series of advantages and technological edge. Because of its design this wheel has a lot of advantages from the normal wheel. Because the attachment to the wheel is moved closer to the ground and more peripheral this wheel provides better stability for the vehicle. This also reduces the structural stress and the force on the wheel because the force is transmitted directly on the suspended elements. The braking system is also revolutionary and steering is more accurate. Aside from the reduced vibration and improved road comfort offered by the invention, it is also so beautiful and will surely define a new fad in vehicle design.
*pictures are owned by Osmos
