pic: Omni Idea
 

Re: pic: Omni Idea
 

The way it's shown, I think it would come apart after the first side load. You can't take away the rim band and leave each spoke alone to withstand the torsional twist and bending it's going to get. But I was thinking maybe you could take a 1/16 metal/alum flat bar strip and wrap it around and loop it through those pvc's, then rivet them to the flats left on the rim band, it might hold up. But the pvc is too slippery alone. So I'd go get some rubber hose - whose ID was that of the PCV od. Then glue that on the PVC. You might have an OK omni. Or you could split the PVC, wrap it around the wheel rim without cutting the rim. Then glue on the hose again with the splits offset. I dunno, but applaud your thought process. G/L

Re: pic: Omni Idea
 

If you can find away to not detsroy the outer ring of the wheel, you've got yourself one of the greatest (IMHO) concepts in FIRST! Perhaps you could cut a slot in the pvc, spead it around the wheel ring, then fasten the pvc back together (industrial staples, hot glue gun?). Once those are sealed again, just put some sort of grippy material on them and it could vey well work just as well as the fancier omniwheels out there.

Let us know how much play there are in the pvc pipes when they are on there. Do they slide between the spokes much? If they aren't extremely tight around the outside rim, do they "bounce" when they contact the ground?

Keep the ideas flowing!

Kev

Re: pic: Omni Idea
 

I am thinking just use epoxy to attach the pvc back together. Hot glue and stuff like that is too rubbery and would catch when it tried to turn.

Re: pic: Omni Idea
 

Yeah It's still a work in progress.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think the idea of splitting the PVC rings should work good. Will try...
I'm going to test the idea on one of our old skyway wheels. I'll try to post a pic when I can!
Thanks!