NEW FINDINGS What is the central question of this study? We used experimental evolution to determine how selective breeding for high voluntary wheel running and exercise training (7-11 weeks) affect ventilatory chemoreflexes of laboratory mice at rest. What is the main finding and its importance? Selective breeding, although significantly affecting some traits, did not systematically alter vent...

This paper describes an infrared-sensing running wheel (ISRW) system for the quantitative measurement of effective exercise activity in rats. The ISRW system provides superior exercise training compared with commercially available traditional animal running platforms. Four infrared (IR) light-emitting diode/detector pairs embedded around the rim of the wheel detect the rat's real-time position;...

Obesity increases the risks to motor vehicle occupants of some types of injury in crashes. The effects of obesity on injury causation are not well understood and current prevention efforts do not effectively address the increased vulnerability of individuals with high body mass index (BMI). Proximity to the steering wheel has been associated with increased risk due to airbag deployment, and the...

Nowadays, the every vehicle existed mostly still using the two wheel steering system to control the movement of the vehicle whether it is front wheel drive, rear wheel drive or all wheel drive. But due to the awareness of safety, four wheel steering vehicles are being used increasingly due to high performance and stability that they bring to the vehicles. In this report, the performance of four...

Abrasion susceptibility of highway pavements has a great impact on the skid resistance, and consequently accident rate. A rotational abrasion device is introduced, providing the advantage of field simulation of wheel passage, in comparison with existing standard methods. The device was used to measure abrasion susceptibility of concrete pavements with different textures. The obtained results we...

To fulfill the microassembly work successfully, an omnidirectional mobile microrobot is presented. To finish the micron size task, the positioning precision of the robot is highly important. But some unpredictable factors, especially the slip effect in wheel, would affect the precision of the robot and cause unwanted deviation. To limit the deviation and optimize the positioning performance of ...

The wheel camber of a wheelchair is a significant parameter that must be taken into account in the search for optimal regulation of a wheelchair. This study examined the effects of different rear-wheel camber (9 degrees , 12 degrees and 15 degrees )-today used mainly in the handibasket championship-on the various kinetic and kinematic parameters of the propulsion cycle. Eight males, all players...

Experiences with Spirit and Opportunity, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, showed that one of the major issues that needs to be addressed in order to expand the exploration capabilities of planetary rovers is that of wheel traction. The relationships governing how much traction a wheel can produce are highly dependent on both the shape of the wheel and terrain properties. These relationships ar...

The United States Army began developing Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) in the early 1900’s. Concurrently, researchers developed and enhanced passenger and commercial ground vehicles. Although significant progress has been made for improving vehicle mobility for all ground vehicles throughout the past century, mobility has lacked a concise mutually agreed definition and analytical standardized c...

This paper discusses the mechanical design and simulation of a novel omnidirectional wheel based on Reuleaux-triangles. The main feature of our omniwheel is that the point of contact of the wheel with the floor is always at the same distance from the center of rotation. This produces smooth translational movement on a flat surface, even when the profile of the complete wheel assembly has gaps b...