#2254: TapeTracks

Tracked vehicles which suffer damage to their undercarriages can be left stranded in perilous situations.

Today’s invention is a backup mechanism for such scenarios.

trackfeed

The vehicle would be fitted with armoured roadwheels, each of which would accommodate perhaps a dozen snail-shell ‘magazines’ holding a rolled up, spring-steel tape.

These snailshells would be fitted inside the roadwheel radially, so that when crossing soft ground, the strip inside each could be driven outwards by a small internal motor.

This would provide continuously-variable ground pressure to allow fast movement on roads (tapes withdrawn) or steady progress over bogs (strips fully extended).

In the event of damage by eg mines to some of the strips, they could simply be extended to offer restored traction.

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