All-Way Car Tire (Photo : Facebook )
Parallel parking might one day become outdated thanks to the invention of a new car wheel by a Canadian man. The inventor William Liddiard has created an all-way drive wheel with a special rim and tire that allows the car to move in any direction including sideways. Vehicles with the donut-shaped tire can do a side-to-side "crab" movement by using rollers in the tire's rims.
Liddiard wrote that his invention is the first bolt-on wheel that uses the technology to move tires horizontally. Drivers can now drive in all directions and turn on a dime.
The Canadian man from London, Ontario showed his tech in a posted YouTube video, which has already received over 1.1 million views, according to National Post.
The title of Liddiard's clip claims that the footage features the first car moving sideways. It shows the Toyota Echo sliding on an Ontario home's driveway like on a sheet of ice.
Liddiard claims that the prototype wheels could be used as standard automobile tires. That is because they are strong and safe enough to meet industry standards.
This is not the first time an omni-drectional wheel has been used in an invention. However, in the past it has been used for small-scale applications such as robotics and wheelchairs.
Honda introduced an omni-directional wheel at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. However, it was for a small scooter-like personal mobility device.
Liddiard hopes to sell his car wheel invention to a major tire or car company. He told Postmedia in an interview that the wheel can hold ten times more weight than other tires while maintaining a certain speed.
In related news, last month BMW unveiled its Vision Next 100 self-driving concept car. The company's autonomous vehicle (AV) celebrates the German automaker's 100th birthday.
A major feature of the futuristic car is the wheels that provide a smooth movement when the driver turns the steering wheel, according to Tech Insider. In addition, the steering wheel also pulls back into the dashboard.
Vision Next 100 also uses augmented reality (AR) to show vehicle data on the driverless car's windshield. The gargantuan display is like the windshield in the BMW i8 concept car featured in the film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol."
