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Mecanum Wheel
wheel The Mecanum wheel is an omnidirectional wheel design for a land-based vehicle to move in any direction. It is sometimes called the Swedish wheel or Ilon wheel after its inventor, Bengt Erland Ilon (1923–2008),[1] who conceived of the concept while working as an engineer with the Swedish company Mecanum AB, and patented it in the United States on November 13, 1972.[2] It consists of a series of rubberized external rollers set at a 45° angle to the wheel.
In 1997, Airtrax Incorporated and several other companies each paid the US Navy $2,500 for rights to the technology, including old drawings of how the motors and controllers worked, to build an omnidirectional forklift truck that could maneuver in tight spaces such as the deck of an aircraft carrier. By comparison, the design of the Mecanum wheel allows for in-place rotation with minimal ground friction and low torque. ^ DE 2354404, Ilon Bengt Erland, "Rad Fuer Ein Laufstabiles, Selbstfahrendes Fahrzeug", issued 1974-05-16^ US 3876255, Ilon Bengt Erland, "Wheels for a Course Stable Selfpropelling Vehicle Movable in any Desired Direction on the Ground or Some Other Base", issued 1975-04-08^"Improved Mecanum Wheel Design for Omni-Directional Robots"(PDF).
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