Unrideable bricycle(youtube.com)
youtube.com
Unrideable bricycle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvmJ_R4psdo
4 comments
This is probably one of those things where we have no idea what a practical application is until it pops up on something.
I was thinking exactly the same thing! What kind of stuff would you want to keep on a straight trajectory and prevent from steering?
Many studies that seem unpractical or even stupid at first sight become genius when somebody finds a problem to which they are an elegant and obvious solution.
Many studies that seem unpractical or even stupid at first sight become genius when somebody finds a problem to which they are an elegant and obvious solution.
Okay, I'll burn my karma for it...
Chuck Norris could steer a bricycle!
Chuck Norris could steer a bricycle!
That was much better than I expected from the initial still.
Username is relevant
A bicycle with compliant training wheels, half way between a bicycle and a tricycle, is uncontrollable
ANDY RUINA, Cornell University, Mechanical Engineering
We have built and tested a vehicle that can balance and steer like a bicycle, a tricycle, or anything in between. A bricycle is essentially a bicycle with springy training wheels. The stiffness of the training wheel suspension can be varied from infinite, when the bricycle is a tricycle, to zero, when it is a bicycle. One might expect a smooth transition from tricycle to bicycle as the stiffness is varied, in terms of handling, balance and feel. But the situation is more complicated. Rather, the controllability of a bicycle depends on gravity. Without gravity, lean and direction cannot be controlled independently. Springy training wheels effectively reduce or even negate gravity. Indeed, experiments with the bricycle show problems when the total effective gravity is about zero. People can then still balance easily but can no longer turn the brike. The theory and experiment show a qualitative difference between bicycles and tricycles. A difference that cannot be met halfway.
Related: http://ruina.tam.cornell.edu/research/topics/bicycle_mechani...