Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Projects surrounding traditional remote control based hobbies like R/C aeroplanes, model railways, and R/C cars.

However could also include rockets, mobile robots, drones, boats etc.

beacon_dave

beacon_dave 5 months ago in reply to anniel747

KiWieels have been optimised for running on salt flats.

Sounds like you need shape transforming tyres so you can scramble over the rocks and then down onto the beach
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anniel747 5 months ago in reply to beacon_dave

Like in real life racing team do most of the test while manufacturers do the research. In fact pro RC racers do change wheel set depending on the track hardness, backyard bashers not much so. Rubber compound hardness also ha a role. I am certain those Kiwi wheels are excellent on hard surfaces but useless on loose sand or for rock crawling. Extremely soft tires with dual stage insert are best at this, for RC at least. Paddles are also excellent for sand.

www.amainhobbies.com/.../p665626
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beacon_dave 5 months ago in reply to anniel747

Has there been much 'research' into the effectiveness of this on RC cars ? Is anyone actively changing the hardness of their wheels for different race conditions and showing results by doing so ?

With KiWieel there was also a lot of research done into the red 'rubber nubbies'. Originally each was directly 3D printed and inserted into the wheel, but after some trial runs, then they were cast into sections using using 3D printed moulds, and after further testing the performance of the design in the lab, some high performance polyurethane rubber material used on rollercoasters was used.

Making a tire testing machine from a 3D printer

Making your own rubber mould, by Eva Hakansson

So some potential for adjusting the hardness there in the rubber nubbies.
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anniel747 5 months ago in reply to beacon_dave

Big tires full of air and foam is part of the suspension. Those RC wheels have foam inserts that come in different hardness.
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beacon_dave 5 months ago in reply to anniel747

I would imagine that partly depends on the suspension set-up.

KiWieel was developed for a couple of reasons. One that tyre delamination/blowout at 300MPH+ seldom ends very well and the other was to optimise the limited contact area between wheel and the ground on the driven wheel for traction.
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