This is easily the coolest robotic-wheeled-thing I’ve seen in a while. The Segway RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform) has four “wheels,” though that’s probably not quite the correct word for them. They’re actually Mecanum wheels, which are designed to move in any direction—similar to the wheels on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers—but in this case by using a series of rollers attached to the wheel’s rim.

According to Wikipedia, the rollers have an axis of rotation at 45 degrees to the plane of the wheel, in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of the wheel. That means the wheels can not only move forward and backward, but they can also move side to side. Makezine.com reports that the RMP should be able to support up to 400 pounds and could cost in the neighborhood of (gulp) $50,000. For more on the new Segway design,

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