Project: Roadless
indiegogo.comI'm not convinced of the utility of this wheel design.
Different wheel widths and diameters are certainly suited for different tasks, but in an area with no roads why not produce a simple wheel with large diameter and width suited for poor roads? There seems to be little value in allowing it to convert to a wheel design suited for better terrain.
Further, optimal wheel design matters most when you're propelling or steering the vehicle, as in a bicycle or motorized car / cart. In this case I suspect you'd be better off with the advantages of a pneumatic tire than the adaptability of this "Roadless" design. None of the Roadless concepts incorporate a pressurized air tire, arguably one of the most important transportation innovations in history.
And in any case, the added complexity seems unwelcome in this sort of environment.
Am I missing something?
An interesting project, but I can't help but think that this problem would be better solved by Chinese Wheelbarrows: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarr...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow
I am kind of surprised Egyptians weren't the first. As a fan of the Chinese's Three Kingdoms (both the history and the novel), I remember Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) invented a wheelbarrow called Wooden Ox (木牛流马) during the war (according to the legend his design was really intelligent). The sad thing is his design was completely destroyed and unclear what the wheelbarrow actually look like.
Looks like those would sink into mud. The suggested wheel seems more like a combination of those and dysons ballbarell http://content.dyson.co.uk/insideDyson/article.asp?aID=ballb...
If the creator is reading this, first, congrats on your early success and good job trying to take on a real problem in a practical way, and being up front about both your immediate needs for the project and the fact that you'll put some of the money toward tuition.
That said, I think you would be well served to add some larger support tiers, and also to invite those backing the project to provide their potential experience and expertise. It could potentially open you up to crackpots, but in my experience it will also give you access to the random material scientist or whatever subject matter expert you might benefit from knowing. Best of luck with the project.
The spoke design is pretty clever, but isn't the real problem is going to be the tire? I can't think of any material that would be durable enough for those conditions and flexible enough to change shape with the spokes.
Maybe he will :)
So you can reinvent the wheel!
Raising money to pay for my remaining tuition fees
If it is (an elaborate way to get his student loans paid off), it's a _very_ elaborate way... the project may not seem or be practical, but that doesn't mean that it's an attempt at a scam or some-such.
That's exactly what it is, and he is pretty transparent about it. Well, technically, it's the outstanding fees that are preventing him from taking his final exam and graduating that he is trying to raise.
He seems to have/state no intention of building a product in the near-term, which is why he probably doesn't have the typical support tiers that include a product.
Not sure if IGG is the right vehicle for this, but hope he succeeds in graduating.
I don't understand why this is necessary for him to develop this project further. Sure he'd like to graduate before working on it further but surely he could use the money to fund the actual project and worry about finishing his professional qualification afterwards? Even once his loans are paid off he doesn't promise any funding towards the actual project...
He appears to have no interest in building the product. Or, at least in the short term, his priority is graduation. The project just appears to be a design project that is required for graduation and, thus, a convenient subject for an IndieGoGo campaign.
As an international student in the UK he probably wouldn't qualify for a student loan[1]. He'll be paying the £9,000 out of his own pocket somehow.
[1] http://www.studylondon.ac.uk/application-advice/faqs/student...
Not a very helpful title (on IndieGoGo). I didn't even realize this was about a product at all.
Seems like a neat idea. I'm a software guy, so don't know much about the area.