I don’t mean take a knife and cut it into eight parts but instead follow the design that our friend Charlie has in mind for us. He has devised the Dynamically Augmenting Wheel System or simply DAWS. His aim was to design a wheel system that would allow a car to shift its center of gravity without losing its traction footprint.
DAWS is kind of inspired by a motorcycle wheel. Lemme explain, a motorcycle wheel allows you to shift or roll your body into a turn giving the bike improved maneuverability and is accomplished by having rounded wheels. This also implies that a bike wheel has a “decreased footprint size when compared to a car wheel and sacrifices traction hurting acceleration, braking and turning speed.”
DAWS essentially features eight segments that are guided on a liner bearing at the hub the wheel can shift the entire vehicle without decreasing footprint size. The motion is kinda similar to our foot movement than a conventional wheel.
Do check out the animation version here, its right at the bottom of the page.
Designer: Charles Pyott
