DARPA design turns round wheels into triangular tracks in a moving vehicle – TechCrunch



[ad_1]

As part of its Ground X-Vehicle Technologies program, DARPA presents a new defense vehicle technology that is as futuristic as it is practical. One of the innovations, a reconfigurable railroad, came from the National Robotics Engineering Center of Carnegie Mellon University, in partnership with DARPA. The railway is only one of the few designs designed to improve the survivability of combat vehicles beyond their mere armor.

As you can see in the video, the reconfigurable track shows a smooth transition between a round wheel and a triangular track in about two seconds and the switch between its two modes can be performed while the vehicle is running without a cutting speed. Round wheels are optimal for hard terrain, while tracked tracks allow armored vehicles to move freely on loose ground.

According to Major Amber Walker, director of the Ground X-Vehicle program, the technology offers "instant improvements in tactical mobility and maneuverability on various terrains" – an advantage you can see in the GIF below.

Although wheel technology does not seem so exciting, the result is visually impressive and smooth enough to cause a double grip.

The other designs featured in the video are also notable, with a windowless navigation technology called Virtual Perspectives Augmenting Natural Experiences (V-PANE) that incorporates video from a series of LIDARs and video cameras to recreate a model in real time of a window without window. vehicle environment. Another windowless cockpit design creates "virtual windows" for a driver, with 3D glasses for depth enhancement, head tracking and wraparound window displays displaying data outside the all-terrain vehicle in real time.

[ad_2]
Source link