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QinetiQ Wins DARPA Electric Hub-Drive Design And Development Contract

Hub_drive

7 September 2015: QinetiQ is to develop an electric hub-drive to improve survivability and mobility of future military ground vehicles for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The contract, worth $1.5m with an option for a further $2.7m, is part of DARPA’s Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T) programme. Under this programme, participants will investigate technologies that could help to significantly improve capability in the next generation of vehicles.

QinetiQ’s hub-drive seeks to improve mobility through enhanced power, torque, integral braking and high efficiency, in a unit that can be contained within a 20” wheel rim. It aims to increase survivability by removing drive shafts and gearboxes, which can become lethal to occupants in the event of an IED detonation beneath the vehicle. The absence of these components could also reduce weight and open up future design possibilities, such as fully independent suspension with significantly increased travel.

Dr David Moore, Director of Research Services at QinetiQ, said: “Like cavalry horses throughout history, vehicles risk becoming less mobile as they are loaded with more armour and weaponry to meet the evolving demands of warfare. Our hub-drive tackles that threat by combining optimum performance with a significant weight saving, which is critical for mobility. It also introduces a far greater degree of architectural flexibility, enabling vehicles to be configured in ways which offer greater protection to their occupants.

“For us, this contract offers an opportunity to show how our expertise, built through 17 years of developing electro-mechanical transmissions for tracked and wheeled vehicles, can help customers de-risk the future.”

www.qinetiq-blogs.com

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13 Responses to “QinetiQ Wins DARPA Electric Hub-Drive Design And Development Contract”

  1. mike says:

    I love living in the future! Sketches like this litter my high school notebooks and the fact that we have the technology to actually build this now blows my mind.

  2. d says:

    Wasn’t this technology in a fairly popular book about future warfare?

  3. “Our hub-drive tackles that threat by combining optimum performance with a significant weight saving, which is critical for mobility. It also introduces a far greater degree of architectural flexibility, enabling vehicles to be configured in ways which offer greater protection to their occupants.”

    This is understatement and the true crux of the potential here. I’m impressed.

  4. Oglee says:

    And this is why Military funding is always an amazing thing. Nothing drives innovation like the MIC, one day this will be on every car.

  5. Mitch says:

    There are about to be some funky Curiosity rover type wheeled type vehicles driving around

  6. tazman66gt says:

    same idea has been floating around the agricultural implement drafting tables for a while

  7. Luke says:

    I thought this was the way things were going, really does open up a lot of crazy options. Even with bizarre suspension systems you still probably end up with fewer moving parts.
    now we just need some better batteries.

    • joe says:

      Why better batteries? Keep the IC engine in a generator role and distrbute electrical power to the hubs. You still get the benefits of not needing a transmission or drivetrain.

  8. Alex says:

    Less maintenance as well!

  9. james says:

    While interesting in the fact that it puts the weight low and out to the corners which should significantly reduce the CG… and in theory far fewer moving parts which should translate into less maintenance… also removes a lot of the physical constraints of CVs U joints and traditional driveline. The challenge will be to keep the unit sealed…

    when can I get a set for my Jeep?