Behold The Hyundai Uni Wheel. Transportation Could By no means Be The Identical

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Because the early days of the car, there have been some innovations that essentially modified the driving expertise. The self starter, the automated transmission, entrance wheel drive, and digital gas injection are a number of examples that come to thoughts. Air con and touchscreens didn’t alter how vehicles drove however did revolutionize the driving expertise. Now Hyundai has created the Uni Wheel, a tool that not solely transmits energy to a wheel extra effectively, it additionally saves house inside the construction of a automobile — house that can be utilized for different issues, like extra battery capability, extra cargo house, or extra room for passengers to stretch their legs.

Of Differentials And CV Joints

The Hyundai Uni Wheel is fiendishly intelligent. It’s also fiendishly troublesome to explain precisely. What it does is transfer the drive discount gear and versatile driveshaft elements referred to as fixed velocity joints contained in the wheel. So it’s not an in-wheel motor, as such, however capabilities very very similar to one with out including the burden of the motor to the wheel.

Let’s begin with one of many primary dilemmas that has confronted automotive engineers because the very starting. When a rear wheel drive automobile goes round a nook, the surface wheel travels a barely longer distance than the within wheel. A direct mechanical connection between the 2 would put stress on the rear axle, stress that may result in untimely failure. The extra energy transmitted, the extra stress created and the upper the failure price.

To compensate, engineers created the differential, a tool that solely sends energy to 1 wheel so the opposite can flip freely in corners. For many years, most vehicles and vehicles had what primarily was one wheel drive, because of the compromises the differential required. That led to the invention of extra difficult gadgets referred to as restricted slip differentials, or posi-traction in advertising phrases.

Then got here entrance wheel drive vehicles. They’d the motor, a differential, and two drive axles sending energy to the entrance wheels. Up to now, so good. However entrance wheels have to have the ability to steer and take up bumps in addition to transfer a automobile ahead. To make that potential, these drive axles want versatile joints in them.

However these joints have the identical mechanical challenges because the rear axles of early vehicles did. Once they flex, some elements need to journey a barely longer distance than different elements, placing stress on the drivetrain, stress that may result in failure. The reply was the fixed velocity joint, a tool that enables every driveshaft to bend whereas permitting a clean movement of energy to the wheels.

For 50 years, CV joints have achieved what they had been designed to do and have gone from being troublesome issues that wanted fixed alternative to dependable gadgets that may final for 100,000 miles or extra. They’re utilized by each automobile that sends energy to the entrance wheels from the most cost effective sedan to the most costly all wheel drive sports activities vehicles.

The Hyundai Uni Wheel Defined

Hyundai engineers questioned if there won’t be a greater approach, and they also began tinkering with concepts. Finally they got here up with the Uni Wheel, a devilishly intelligent machine that replaces the CV joint utterly and heralds a brand new period during which every wheel has its personal motor.

They are saying an image is price a thousand phrases however on this case a video is price 10,000 phrases. And so, with out additional ado, right here is the Hyundai Uni Wheel video that explains all of it.

Hyundai Uni Wheel Launched

In a press launch, Jongsool Park, Senior Fellow on the Institute of Superior Expertise Growth of Hyundai Motor Group stated, “We’re happy to showcase modern concepts that would grow to be sport changers sooner or later mobility market. We are going to good the expertise in order that prospects can expertise mobility in a totally totally different and new approach.”

The press assertion went on to say a traditional drive system utilizing an everyday CV joint suffers from a lower in effectivity and sturdiness because the angle of drive shaft deflection will increase when travelling over bumpy, undulating surfaces. Uni Wheel can transmit energy with nearly no change to effectivity no matter wheel motion, making certain excessive sturdiness and journey consolation.

When mixed with digital air suspension that may alter journey top in accordance with the driving scenario, this may be elevated to stabilize the automobile on tough roads, or decreased for prime pace driving to enhance energy and stability.

By transferring the discount gear to the wheel hub, Uni Wheel’s excessive discount ratio delivers a big torque output and permits for a extra compact electrical motor. With impartial management of as much as 4 environment friendly electrical drive models, Uni Wheel additionally permits for unprecedented ranges of torque vectoring to spice up dynamic skill and ship excessive ranges of steering and driving stability.

The Takeaway

Once I watched that video, it jogged my memory of when my mother and father took me to the Boston Museum of Science after I was a younger boy. I used to be fascinated by mechanical issues as a lad. My favourite toy was a plastic mannequin of an inside combustion engine that confirmed the pistons going up and down within the cylinders and turning the crankshaft. The best half was a small purple mild that got here on within the high of every cylinder when it was time for every spark plug to fireplace.

On the Museum of Science there was a wall of gears. Some had been sq. and a few had been rectangular, however all of them labored simply high quality if you turned the crank that made them transfer. Watching that video jogged my memory of that wall of gears. I can’t clarify how the Uni Wheel works in phrases however after I watch the video all of it is sensible to me.

The reason could be very effectively achieved however what actually obtained my consideration was on the finish when the video explores among the improvements in mobility the Uni Wheel may make potential. The press launch makes reference to so-called objective constructed automobiles. Hyundai has just lately began manufacturing at a specialised manufacturing unit in Singapore that’s particularly designed to fabricate such objective constructed automobiles — vehicles and vehicles that might be in-built small numbers to suit a selected objective. Hyundai additionally introduced just lately it would begin promoting vehicles on-line with Amazon. Whereas different firms are whining about decrease EV gross sales, Hyundai is busy innovating to prepare for the longer term.

Effectivity is the Holy Grail for electrical automobiles. We merely can’t afford to proceed losing almost three quarters of the vitality in a gallon of gasoline. Something that makes an EV extra environment friendly is welcome information for our quickly heating planet. The engineers at Hyundai deserve quite a lot of credit score for considering exterior the CV joint.