The lines between snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle and snowbike have already started to blur considerably over the past 5-years. Now, thanks to new technology developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center, we are one step closer to a vehicle that can do it all. It’s called Reconfigurable Wheel Tracks, a transformative technology that can go from wheel to track in just two-seconds without ever stopping. The technology is so innovative, it didn’t’ take long for the Pentagon to take the idea under its wings as part of Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T) program. The round wheel is supported by six adaptable skid systems with a rubber track enveloping the entire system. When ”round”, the entire support and track spins much like a traditional wheel. Power is provided by a robotic, central-mounted hub. The driver controlled technology can instantly convert the spinning wheel into a triangular shaped track support. Once this “shape-shifting” occurs, the rotation is then “shifted” to the track itself, rotating around the support hub. It doesn’t take more than one or two views of the video to see how this technology could dramatically alter off-road powersports and provide propulsion in all terrains and seasons.
