[EricH]

Originally Posted by Electronica1

Didn't 148 conceive and run the first butterfly drive in 2011?

Sort of... but you're off by a year.

148 and 217 built a "nonadrive" in 2010--in fact, they collaborated on it. The butterfly was omnis and traction, and a 5th omni was mounted perpendicularly to the rest of the drivetrain (for sideways motion).


I'd actually thought about (and tried to convince my team to do) one back in the mid-2000s I want to say '06 or so, and I know a team that did a traction/traction butterfly-type setup back in '03, so they've been around a while, in concept at any rate. These days, more teams have the resources to pursue 'em, and are more willing to share designs, so they've been getting more common.