
Project: Roadless - sami_b
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-me-graduate-and-develop-my-graduation-project-further
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sofauxboho
I'm not convinced of the utility of this wheel design.

Different wheel widths and diameters are certainly suited for different tasks,
but in an area with no roads why not produce a simple wheel with large
diameter and width suited for poor roads? There seems to be little value in
allowing it to convert to a wheel design suited for better terrain.

Further, optimal wheel design matters most when you're propelling or steering
the vehicle, as in a bicycle or motorized car / cart. In this case I suspect
you'd be better off with the advantages of a pneumatic tire than the
adaptability of this "Roadless" design. None of the Roadless concepts
incorporate a pressurized air tire, arguably one of the most important
transportation innovations in history.

And in any case, the added complexity seems unwelcome in this sort of
environment.

Am I missing something?

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nkoren
An interesting project, but I can't help but think that this problem would be
better solved by Chinese Wheelbarrows:
[http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-
wheelbarr...](http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-
wheelbarrow.html)

~~~
yeukhon
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow)

I am kind of surprised Egyptians weren't the first. As a fan of the Chinese's
Three Kingdoms (both the history and the novel), I remember Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮)
invented a wheelbarrow called Wooden Ox (木牛流马) during the war (according to
the legend his design was really intelligent). The sad thing is his design was
completely destroyed and unclear what the wheelbarrow actually look like.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_ox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_ox)

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emhart
If the creator is reading this, first, congrats on your early success and good
job trying to take on a real problem in a practical way, and being up front
about both your immediate needs for the project and the fact that you'll put
some of the money toward tuition.

That said, I think you would be well served to add some larger support tiers,
and also to invite those backing the project to provide their potential
experience and expertise. It could potentially open you up to crackpots, but
in my experience it will also give you access to the random material scientist
or whatever subject matter expert you might benefit from knowing. Best of luck
with the project.

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reppic
The spoke design is pretty clever, but isn't the real problem is going to be
the tire? I can't think of any material that would be durable enough for those
conditions and flexible enough to change shape with the spokes.

~~~
emhart
Maybe he will :)

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bbwharris
So you can reinvent the wheel!

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fintler

      Raising money to pay for my remaining tuition fees
    

Is this just an elaborate way to get his student loans paid off? The project
itself doesn't really seem practical.

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freakyterrorist
I don't understand why this is necessary for him to develop this project
further. Sure he'd like to graduate before working on it further but surely he
could use the money to fund the actual project and worry about finishing his
professional qualification afterwards? Even once his loans are paid off he
doesn't promise any funding towards the actual project...

~~~
unclebucknasty
He appears to have no interest in building the product. Or, at least in the
short term, his priority is graduation. The project just appears to be a
design project that is required for graduation and, thus, a convenient subject
for an IndieGoGo campaign.

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Kiro
Not a very helpful title (on IndieGoGo). I didn't even realize this was about
a product at all.

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lnanek2
Seems like a neat idea. I'm a software guy, so don't know much about the area.

