History and EVOLUTION of the WHEEL - from 3500 BCE to the PRESENT and BEYOND
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- 00:00 Intro
00:39 From logs to wheels
05:22 Greeks, Egyptians and Celts
07:14 Dunlop, Michelin and Goodyear
11:22 Wire wheels
14:15 Alloy wheels
16:08 Carbon fiber wheels
18:14 The future of wheels
Today we're exploring the history and the evolution of the wheel. Wheels played a very large role in shaping and building our world and today we will pay tribute to this simple but genius invention.
So when was the wheel invented? Well if you think a rolling log is a wheel then wheels can be traced back to the second half of the neolithic where they played a key role in the in the construction of megalithic buildings. But ancient humans sought way to escape the unpredictability and difficulty of rolling logs and thus moved onto a combination of sledges pulled over logs fixed into the ground. As the sledges rolled across the logs over and over they wore grooves into them creating something similar to a wheel and axle combo.
Interestingly enough the first actual wheels weren't used for transport, instead they were potter's wheels and the oldest ones have been discovered in Mesopotamia in the area roughly corresponding to today's Iraq. These ancient potter's wheels have been dated to 3500 BCE while the first wheels used for transportation appear roughly around 3200 BCE.
Early wheels were solid wooden discs which were cumbersome and inefficient. Ancient Greeks made them lighter by inventing the H-type wheel, but it was the Egyptians who really shaved weight from the wheel by inventing the spoke around 2000 BCE. The Celts attached iron bands (rims) around the outside of the wheel thus dramatically improving their durability around 1000 BCE.
The first major improvement to comfort came in the form of pneumatic (air inflatable) tires with Rober William Thomson's patent for pneumatic tires in 1847. Although he was granted a patent his idea never saw the light of day. Instead the first functional air inflated tire was made in 1888 in Belfast by John Boyd Dunlop. Dunlop's tire quickly spread across the wheels of bicycles but didn't yet hit cars as car's weren't widespread. Credit for being the first to put pneumatic tires on cars goes to brothers André and Edouard Michelin. They further perfected the pneumatic tire by patenting a removable one that could be installed and removed without the usage of glue. Both both Dunlop's and Michelin's invention stands on the shoulders of Charles Goodyear who patented the process for tire vulcanization in 1844.
Another key evolution for the wheel happened with the advent of the wire wheel. Patents for it were granted as early as 1802 but wire wheels became truly widespread on cars following the birth of the tangential wire wheel which was stronger than the radial kind, but only after 1907 when the Rudge Whitworth company patented the detachable wire wheel (Borrani wheels bought their license and thus share the logo).
The next big step for wheels was aluminum/ aluminium casting. The first to successfully cast aluminum wheels was Ettore Bugatti in 1924 after which he used them on the legendary Type 35 racer. Harry A. Miller did patent the concept for casting the wheels even before in 1920 but ever actually made any. Aluminum wheels offered many benefits such as better heat conduction and a more open design, both of which help with brake cooling. On top of this they enabled endless design possibilities which can also help aerodynamics and the aesthetic aspect of vehicles. They are also stiffer and cope better with high speeds. This is also one of the reason why wire wheels are still used on enduro, adventure and trial bikes, as their increased flexibility is better at resisting deformation when ridden over rough terrain.
The final step in the strength and weight equation came in the form of carbon fiber wheels. The first ones come all the way from 1971 when Michelin made them for Citroen's SM rally car and later for road going SMs. America's first CF wheel was on the Dodge-Shelby CSX-VNT and the first single piece carbon fiber wheels came from Koenigsegg in 2013. Porsche offered the first braided carbon fiber wheels in 2017. Other than Porsche and Koenigsegg all other cars with CF wheels had them supplied by a company called Carbon Revolution.
What about the future? Well thanks to the compactness and their nearly endless design posiblites the wheels of the future may become the motors of the future, and already are in many markets in the form hub motors. But if hub motors aren't futuristic enough for you don't worry because hubless motors might become a thing too. Tires may be de-evolving back into their airless selves and increased competition may bring down the price of carbon wheels.
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Авто/Мото
One thing that could use more elaboration is bearings because it's one thing to figure out axles and another to find out how to keep them from grinding into dust.
Indeed! This topic would also shed some light on why hubless wheels will never take off. They have massive bearing drag.
Yeah, bearing would be a really cool followup.
That's exactly what I was thinking! I just replaced my car's front wheel bearing and this was fresh on my mind. Without bearings that means that you have two parts (axle and wheel) grinding against each other until one of them gives out. Bearings should dramatically extend the life of both parts.
My history class attributed the invention of ball bearings to ancient Rome for use in their chariots
@@bradcomis1066 the way they look is enough for me to not buy a vehicle with such wheels. Ugly
Surprisingly, that video didn’t make me feel too “tired”.
That was a wheely interesting and educational video!
You're tyring way too hard, bud.
@@Milkmans_Son he was wheeling to do so
Those kinds of jokes don't roll around here.
Wasn't expecting this video from D4A, great video!!
3:35
Differential: "Ooh, that's my cue...wait, no, no. Too early.
How about bearings? lol
6:14 looks like differential on that axle :D
Differentials are only needed on driven wheels
@@satsumagt5284 . Move along.
What a fantastic summary of the evolution of the wheel. Thank you!
Came for the engineering, remained for history. More detailed and more precise of any teacher I ever had.
Nineteen minutes and 40 seconds of relaxation and new information. It is always a pleasure to stop by your channel.
Interesting, well-organized, and excellently delivered presentation.
That was well produced.
15:08 not gonna lie, I want that mustache.
You're all set. Just tell your barber you want a dozen, then pick the best two.
Probably one of the best automotive channels on u tube !
Thank you once again for this, very much so important, history lesson!
💪👌✌️
I love this series already 👌🏾
WOW, that was an amazing video with historical milestones, research and explanation. Thumbs up
your style of teaching is very nice to listen to man!
Why this video got less than 10m views
I love it's perfect 👌 Grazie
I just loved the part about the citroen wheels. So cool.
I was listening to this like a podcast while doing work, but the explanation became better and better, and before I knew it from the 7min onwards, I dropped my work and eyes glued to the video
More interesting than i was expecting. I put it on for background as i cleaned my room, but i had to watch. Very good.
That was a really good history lesson. Thanks.
The presentation was really smooth! Didn't even notice the flow of time!thank you for making such a quality contens
Great work man!
I always look forward to watching your videos as soon as they get released 😃
20 minutes well spent !!!😁👍
Another awesome history lesson. Keep it coming mate!
Nothing rolls better than a wheel, yep! Great contribution to the auto community. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video!
Your movies are very interesting and good for learning English. Best greetings from Poland!
Keep these videos rollin
This is great! Something not well known is that similar to how you mentioned large log axles being inefficient due to friction losses, the larger a bearing's internal diameter, the higher the friction and shorter the service life. So I think the hollow hubless wheel design will keep just being something we see on low production vehicles and fancy renders. It's quite easy to make small, efficient bearings with a 20+ year service life but that simply isn't possible with large internal diameter bearings.
Fascinating! Thank you!
Awesome video, as always, that's why I love your channel and I'm a subscriber. Please, do more videos like this one, as I'm fascinated with both cars and world History. Videos about the history of the pistons, the cranks, the camshaft, differentials (there's a hint of that in this video), seatbelts, and many more topics, would be awesome.
Greetings from Pergamino, Argentina 🇦🇷.
Another awesome video, driving 4 answers. Thanks for such well edited, well explained, and interesting content! Hope you have a great day, keep on doing things how you do! : )
I always learn something on each of your videos! Great content as always 👍
Fascinating! Amazing to hear about those early pioneers.
Great content! I learned a few things I didn't know before.
Nice presentation.
Excellent work, thank you.
thank you so much for this video. it is so extensive yet easy to understand the entire evolution. kudos
Did you just reinvent the wheel?
No, but a guy in Australia once did, there's a story behind it.
Awesome video, subscribed👌
As with all your tech talks, very interesting, factual and informative. I've lived a lot of years, owned a lot of wheeled vehicles, and have seen so much here I never knew about "the wheel". Thank you.
Excellent !!!
So instructive !!
Great video!
New video LET'S GOOOO!
I loved yor video, 10/10, thanks!
Good video 👍 thanks for sharing 🙏 I like
Great content as usual.
7:21 The iron band was called and spelled at the time as 'tire' which is how the American spelling differs from the English.
Great video
I really enjoyed this. I think a video on dampers/springs and if springs change over time would be interesting.
Interesting video the future Will be exiting as more meterials Come out and gjetting stronger and lighter. Thank you for the uplode.
can't wait for the nike one 2022
thanks a lot sir fantastic stuff
Very informative video
Let's get a episode of iconic motors on the volvos redblock.
Wow, not many videos like this.
superb video. danke schoen
Good video, well done.
thank you
Nice video 👍🏻. I wish a video about headers, and what about the iconic engines??
A video about manifolds is coming really soon. Iconic engines too next month likely.
@@d4a Thank you very much, looking forward 🙋🏻♂️👍🏻
Great video bro! 👍 Those sexy BBS wheels tho. 😍
Cool
This video was wheelie good!
Another interesting "evolution" of the wheel is represented by Trilex, a design that was used on heavy vehicles until the 80's.
The rim was composed by three segments that were kept together by the central part of the wheel, a separate component called spider.
This design was beneficial for the mounting and removal of the tyre because it only required basic tools.
I’ve always found it interesting that the pre-columbian North American Natives had invented/discovered the Bow and Arrow, while they were completely ignorant about the wheel and axle.
I didn't expect such a documentary on youtube, great job.
Maybe you know who and when started wheel balancing? Driving on unbalanced wheels is nightmare and to some point in history everybody had to do it.
I had the chance of touring the Carbon Revolution factory about 2 years back. It was definitely an interesting experience, and at least one set of wheels was on staff cars. Cost can be easily explained by everything between ply cutting and curing being manual processes - although with some fairly advanced production management systems to reduce the complexity to something that can be taught to normal factory labourers. Plus there's also the expectation of a pristine CF appearance, leading to wheels that are serviceable, but having visual defects being scrapped..
I would argue the primary advantage of pneumatic tires is not comfort but reduced rolling resistance. Tires actually absorb a HUGE amount of vibration into the sidewalls of the tire which massively reduces the energy transferred to the vehicle.
Love that 12:37
Though it took a long time to address ride comfort using tires, all sorts of different suspension methods were applied prior to that to improve the ride dating all the way back to the Egyptians.
Just finished watching this first video from this great guy and I WANT SO MUCH MORE! So well presented and documented,! And seeing so much bullshit around I have to say that this channel is what makes internet great! Thanks
Wow! I did not think there were good critical thinkers to be found so near:) I am humbled.
Sledges were probably used with wet clay lubrication - this can be a very efficient ,low friction mechanism
Giant!..God your good...many thanks.
Carbon Revolution are upgrading their factory to increase quality and reduce the cost of their wheels.
This brings a whole new perspective to "reinventing the wheel". I somehow missed that it had to go through so many millennia before it look the familiar "proverbial wheel" shape.
Gotta love Citroen!
At the very beginning: animation of a spinning wheel. Love that stationary brake disc🧐😛
It's a royalty free animation, don't expect too much 😂
This was great. I predicted the airless wheel on the basis of ridiculously shifting aspect ratios in the direction of .05 or maybe just .00 except I was kidding.
Could you please take a look and make a video about the Angelo Di Pietro air engine?
great vid but there is another thing in nature the rolls search for Golden Wheel Spider
Hello.
Could you make a "Turbo vs Kompressor vs supercharger" Video?
With pros and cons, the best way to use them and the basics of how they work.
Please 🥺👍
5:04 Golden wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava)
ruclips.net/video/ltvLo2vNls0/видео.html
6:00 the spoked wheel was introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos invaders at around 1800 BC
What about the desert spider that rolls down the sand dunes thats kinda like a wheel that could give you ideas
Hopefully future wheels will evolve to smaller dimensions. I'm getting a bit sick of cars coming with 20" wheels and having to endure the incredibly rough rides they offer. Tires are an essential, functional part of a car, so I don't know why people insist on making them as invisible as possible.
The leather band around the circumference of a spoked wooden wheel, holds the three wooden parts, hub, spokes, and rim segments, together. It tyes them together. It's called the tyre. Metal was used, then solid rubber over that. Dunlop attached his air filled rubber tyres to the wooden rims, Michelin gave them bands.
👍👍👍👏
3:38 the welded diff was discovered and unwanted.
1.49 - Rolling log is implied to precede the sled. I don't know why? Sleds are useful for transporting any moderately heavy load over less than perfectly even surface, as it prevents the load from getting stuck on bumps. If you "pave" the way with wood, you can even achieve lower friction. *Then* , on a paved or evened out terrain, it finally makes sense to try the rolling log. On uneven ground it will just get stuck.
Just saying what makes sense to me, I don't know what is most commonly assumed. (However, the illustration presented at 2:11 seems to agree with my view. We can see a loaded sled, on rolling logs, on a *smoothed or paved* road. Not a bare stone block with rollers underneath, being pulled over uneven ground.)
Re: Why the wheel came in so late.
While the reasons presented here are definitely correct, I like to rather think about who might have benefited from the wheel the most. While the wheel is so incredibly useful, everybody did benefit from it, but not to the same extent.
1. Primitive wheels are *no good* for moving heavy loads.
People tend to overlook it, but it's absolutely true. The load bearing capacity of a simple sled is an order of magnitude higher than that of a primitive wheel. Or even a sophisticated one! Sleds were used for big objects for a very long time after the wheel was already known.
2. Sedentary people do not move much in general. That's why they are called sedentary.
From that I propose, that more nomadic lifestyle is likely to come up with this invention. The people who absolutely *need* to move, or they starve. For them, having even slightly better transportation capabilities is of great value.
3. Wheels are no good on uneven ground.
Currently, mountains and heavily wooded areas are still converted into "flatlands" in order to use the wheel (roads, rails). Where it's not possible, people still use horses, which walk. When horses can't go, they carry stuff on their own backs.
What it all amounts to?
I believe, that in search for the wheel inventors, we should look to the nomadic people (modest loads, high distance), who lived on, or at least in close proximity of the flatlands. Basically, Eurasian steppe. Yes, finds will be hard in this terrain...
So finally, back to the original question of "why so late?". In my approach the wheel came in so late, because people who could benefit from it the most, started colonizing the environment with the strongest "need" very late.
Re: Greeks did that, Egyptians did the next thing.
How do we know that? We don't. It's probably the earliest finds which come from those areas, but you don't get finds where you don't dig, do you?
Anyway, if that approach is true, I'm a Pole so I want to claim that invention for my nation. (That's reductio ad absurdum, if it's not obvious!). The earliest depiction of a wagon, or any other wheeled vehicle, happens to come from Poland. Obviously, it means nothing
But if people claim it does? Gimme! ;-)
Okay, it's a long post already.
You don't need to reinvent the wheel, just explain toe and camber.
Joking, awesome video as always!
Can we see the history and evolution of driving controls?
On the cartoon, The Roadrunner's legs looked like a wheel at full speed, or Fred Flintstone's 2 log roller car. lol
We are awaiting to study a Tyre technology in automobile industry, from your side
*Wheel vs. Handaxe* ... food for thought ... which was the more important invention?
Surely the issue of discomfort would have been addressed by some type of suspension before inflatable tyres were invented?
I'm surprised you didn't include the mecanum wheel, often used on forklifts. Also known as the omniwheel.
Cool video.
Mecanum wheels and omniwheels are two different designs.
Why is this video 50Hz?? Interesting number
-U tell me and wzz both noses,
I mustve missed it but who fixed the axle in place?