Kyoto prof rolls out omnidirectional wheelchair

From: Physorg - 03/27/2012
By: Nancy Owano

A mechanical engineering professor has taken the wraps off his vehicle that
is designed to become a next-generation wheelchair. As its formal name
suggests, this is the Personal Mobile Vehicle, or Permoveh for short. Rolling
it around at his lab in Kyoto, Japan, earlier this month, the professor
carried out the demo before an audience of observers and photographers. They
watched him ride the device, with its clever wheel-within-wheel system, which
allowed the vehicle to move in any direction. The Permoveh has four
same-sized wheels with 32 rollers each. They rotate in a perpendicular
direction to the rim. The rollers sit inside the main wheels, allowing the
vehicle to move in more directions than just back and forth.

Read the entire article and view a video (0:59) at:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-kyoto-prof-omnidirectional-wheelchair.html

Link:
4WD Permoveh wheelchair turns on a dime
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57403813-1/4wd-permoveh-wheelchair-turns-on-a-dime/