h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Depends what they're on.

*Drops a Ressurection Bomb into the Thread.*

Jerms, I had an idea on my way home and figured this would be the place for it, since I don't know any of the technical details and I'm hoping you can help me with that part. Might actually sound kind of stupid, but here it is anyway.

I figure the only problem with Roller Blades is getting up steep or large hills. But shoes don't have that problem. I know there's already a sort of hybrid skating shoe, but I don't think it's any good. So my idea is you have the wheels folded up in the bottom of the shoe, and you push a little button on the side that electronically folds them out and then you push it again to fold them back in.

Hmmmm. I could design a simple circuit that would fix that if I can get into school. It would be very basic though.

And wouldn't you end up with really heavy shoes, almost new rock style goth boots?

Yep this is a good place to put this.

Several things spring to mind which could be worth considering.
In no particular order:
- Bending over to press a button would be a nuisance at least, possibly even dangerous if you're on roller blades at the top of a hill.
- Does the circuit have to be electrical? It's only a small movement of a mechanical lever, and if it's electrical this means it needs a battery, which needs charging and wears out over time whether you use it or not.
- Yes this could make the boots heavy, but meh. People like myself don't mind, and would actually /prefer/ to wear heavier boots. Besides, it'll help newbies balance on the blades better.
- It /is/ possible to get up a hill with roller blades, in the same way that ice scaters move forward, by angling the blades and pushing them /out/, which changes the force to /along/. It's just harder on a hill.

So maybe this would be better off being a mechanical switch? Maybe somewhere inside the shoe so that you move your foot in a particular way to raise/lower the wheels; or underneath the shoe so that you have to rub it the right way... like the way you can open louvre windows by rubbing your had /up/ the glass. (Or down the glass if you're outside I guess.) Maybe on the side of the shoe, on the inside of your foot so that you move the lever with the other shoe. Dunno, I'd have to think about the best placement, in terms of not having to lean over to reach it, not being able to move the wheels accidentally and careen to your fiery doom, and so on.

Sticking with the electronic idea for now though, Job's got the right idea - it would have to be simple. It doesn't have to do anything other than move a bit of metal for each shoe - two bits at most. It could have rechargable batteries inside for the power to move the metal, and if the shoes can fit a set of wheels each then there's plenty of room for batteries. And a button could be put almost anywhere.
I'd still be worried about corrosion though. Feet and shoes have to put up with a /lot/. Dirt is fairly acidic, and so is rainwater - especially in puddles on city streets. I wouldn't want to be digging around in the soles of my shoes trying to get the batteries out to replace them very often either.

I'm still thinking this would be much better with a mechanical solution.

Actually I've just realised that any solution would need to have a strong contact - the wheels can't retract just by having someone's weight landing on them. So if it's mechanical, then the best placement for a lever would be sticking out both sides of the shoe. Not far, maybe sticking out about 4mm? And it would need to move about an inch or so vertically.

Not too big a deal, really.
What d'you reckon?

~*~What d'you reckon?~*~

I reckon I'm lost in Techno Babble. I'll try to keep up though.

~*~Does the circuit have to be electrical?~*~

Well I don't know a reason it /has/ to be. That's just what I thought of. If you can come up with a way to do it otherwise than what the heck.

~*~It /is/ possible to get up a hill with roller blades, in the same way that ice scaters move forward, by angling the blades and pushing them /out/, which changes the force to /along/. It's just harder on a hill.~*~

Yes........But it's /hard/, and I'm /lazy/..........Hence why I came up with the idea.

~*~Dirt is fairly acidic, and so is rainwater - especially in puddles on city streets. I wouldn't want to be digging around in the soles of my shoes trying to get the batteries out to replace them very often either.~*~

Well is there any technical reason it has to be in the soles? Could it not, for example, be up on the edge of the........thing........ Where the ankles go into the shoe, you know? Couldn't they go into a sort of cool looking box thing?
And as for recharging, is it possible to use an AC Adapter plug thingy? Like Gameboys use. You take the chord and you plug it into the little hole on the box.

~*~I'm still thinking this would be much better with a mechanical solution.~*~

Well you're the technical one. That's why I put it here, I wanted your advice.

Anyway, what do you think?

"But it's /hard/, and I'm /lazy/..........Hence why I came up with the idea." That's the same reason I'm going along with it.

"Well is there any technical reason it has to be in the soles?" The only 'technical' reason is because shoes generally don't have as much space on the sides as they do in the soles, so it'd be trickier. No /real/ hinderance though.

"Anyway, what do you think?" I think it could be quite simple. The top of a clicky-pen works the same way as the mechanism I have in mind. "Wheels go up... wheels go down... wheels go up..."
Just instead of pushing a tube of ink with a ball bearing at the end of it, it moves a metal frame with some wheels attached. Market the concept if you want, you might get rich from it.

Couple of thoughts
Switch Infer red ,or radio are alternatives

Batteries can be concealed within wheels , also can be recharchable via
little solar panel and momentum type i:e when going down hill or self propeled.

Small boost via compressed air or even small combustion engine ,but hey
there already is those little motorised scooters (kiddy things the you push of on one leg,and skate boards the same)

"Switch Infer red ,or radio are alternatives" Pass someone who opens the garage door at the wrong time...

"Batteries can be concealed within wheels , also can be recharchable via
little solar panel and momentum type i:e when going down hill or self propeled" Good idea!

"...small combustion engine..." No need to hitchike to the service station!

A lever with linear to rotary to rotary at a 90degree angle might work and could tip the wheels into the boot sideways so not to make the shoes platform like.

Yeah I wondered if that might be better. It's not /quite/ as easy to make, and the contact isn't /quite/ as strong, but it's still possible.

Up to X I guess, he's the one to market it.

That is unless someone patents it before I do!

The problem is that that wouldn't look cool, and so wouldn't sell well.

You reckon? I think it would still be cool.

Mind you, I'm not exactly Mr. Mass marketability.

Well neither am I........

And how many goths would you see in huge boots rollerskating.

How many non goths would you see in huge boots?

Well I admit that although I'd like boots I wouldn't want them to be huge. At the time I had the idea it didn't occur to me that they'd need to be big.

well how about accessorising these boot with a pair of long gloves that go all the way up to the elbow ,and a pair off knee pads all off these with a ball or wide wheel ,

maximum contact with the pavement less effort to propel with the weel in the toe of the boot switch could be presure switch in the toe another one in the arches just in front of the heel would need to be on canterlever maybe four inch heels become two inch also can get extra lift with hinge bracket on the wheel axle.

by the way forget the wheel thing propulsion like a ,great for ice skating sander belt ,and maybe compressed air for lever ,also memory sensative plastic and vacum can also cut the wait down .mabe stick spikes on and use in summer months.

Could you explain that again only slower this time?

O:K
roller skates or roller sandbelts
roller skates traditionly have four wheels ,little contact with road like ice skates so going up hill is harder ,
But a sander belt is one wheel but its got a lot more contact soo more grip for traveling up hill,

Attache ments knee pads elbow wheels(super market trolly wheels Per Exapum )
add them for recreational use at skate board ramps or for comeing down from the top of mutli story car park ,turn yourself into a human go cart.

think outside tank tracks on inside of sole ,deployed via gas filled memory retensive moulded plastic ,that way you can have desert or snow moulds.

there is some more in there re roller retractable heel,simple locking release like in strongbow means wheel can be deployed easyly