An engineer might have just created the weirdest motorbike we’ve ever clapped eyes on, a self-balancing, electric-powered ‘screw’ motorcycle.
It’s the brainchild of James Bruton, an engineer, inventor and YouTuber. His latest machine though, might be the first use of Mecanum wheels on a motorbike. A Mecanum wheel is like a conventional wheel in that when viewed from the side it is round, although where the tyre would normally be there are diagonally-mounted rollers. What this allows the vehicle to do is run forwards and backwards, as is conventional, but also travel laterally in a crabbing motion. They are commonly used in robots to allow them to move in any direction.
Taking the bike for a test ride, its maker can ride forwards and backwards, side to side and drift, even managing to ride the machine around inside his house without too much difficulty.
Explaining the project on his YouTube channel, Bruton said:
‘Do you remember when I made a bicycle with an omni-wheel on the front? A while later I moved on and tried to make a bike with two omni-wheels.
'As soon as I’d assembled that version I realised it would have been better to have made Mecanum wheels, which have the little wheels slanted all around them. These are typically used on the four corners of a robot so it can move in any direction, but I want to put them all in a line, so the bike still balances sideways, but can screw itself along.’
