BACKGROUND Morbidity and mortality of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes have been studied, as well as the association of helmet use and head injury. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the patterns of extremity fractures associated with ATVs and dirt bikes. We believe there will be unique and potentially preventable injury patterns associated with dirt bi...

It is generally recognized that the walking machine will make superior off road vehicle to conventional wheeled or tracked vehicles. The high mobility of walking vehicle come from its intelligent functions to select gait adaptive to the terrain. If the legged vehicle is without the intelligence and the legs are driven in fixed sequence, it can not even maintain stable motion in rough terrain. T...

A reconfigurable mechanism for varying the footprint of a four-wheeled omnidirectional vehicle is developed and applied to wheelchairs. The variable footprint mechanism consists of a pair of beams intersecting at a pivotal point in the middle. Two pairs of ball wheels at the diagonal positions of the vehicle chassis are mounted, respectively, on the two beams intersecting in the middle. The ang...