DARPA Transforming Tank Tread Wheels
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – DARPA, for short – has always been ahead of the game when it comes to interesting military tech. And while we could take or leave their creepy dog-like drones, they’ve just unveiled something that’s certainly piqued our interests: a transforming wheel they’re calling the Reconfigurable Wheel-Track.
A product of their Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T), this development was actually created by a group of researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University National Robotics Engineering Center. And while the tech is a bit too complicated to pare down, what we can tell you is this: the RWT can transform from road-ready wheels to sand- and mud-friendly tank treads in only 2 seconds – and that’s while the vehicle is in motion. Hard to say if we’ll ever see this experimental tech put into use, but we’d certainly love a chance to slap a set of these on a 4×4 off-roader and see how they handle in the backcountry.
