James Bruton and his out-of-the-world creations never cease to amaze us. His Star Wars Speeder Bike is a good example of his inventive thinking. The DIYer knows his craft and his latest creation has got us mystified, yet again!
This omnidirectional bike gives the rider great freedom to move in multiple directions, allowing them to move sideways, diagonally, or even rotate on the spot. Now, who would say no to such a cool way to commute in the city?
Designer: James Bruton
Dubbed the Screw Bike, this two-wheeled commuter justifies the namesake. I can’t resist but see the reminisces of the retro Motocompo here, but that could be a pure coincidence. James has a thing for omnidirectional wheels and this could be his best one so far. Each of those peculiar wheels on the bike is 360 mm in diameter and comes with a packing of smaller wheels positioned with engineering craft for multidirectional movement. Originally called Mecanum Wheels, these unique tireless wheels are used widely in the scope of robotics and often in competitive robotics due to their ability to introduce fully omnidirectional movement onto a drivetrain. These rollers typically each have an axis of rotation at 45° to the wheel plane and at 45° to the axle line.
While your high-end bicycle will beat this thing in a straight spring, on the tracks of Monaco this thing will have the moves. For this bike’s custom design, the inventor employs 3D printing technology and uses materials like plywood. Implementing such a complex wheel design could only have been possible with 3D printing. There are 48 small wheels and 96 wedges that make possible this complex iteration. The movement of this bike is so smooth, that it calls for due credit to James.
The steering input from the handlebar is perfectly synched with the direction in which the inventor wants to move. He demonstrates the movement of Screw Bike inside a room and out in the open too. This very well justifies that the smooth moves are no fluke.
