Wheel with side effect

I discovered this fascinating concept from Elvir Sadykov (@AlvirSadykov) and was inspired to design my own version of this type of wheel.

It’s an intriguing idea, and I’m still exploring how practical it is. When mounted on a typical car, conventional steering likely wouldn’t work as expected. However, I can imagine useful applications in transport systems where forward motion is driven by rotation, while lateral movement can be achieved by simply pushing the object sideways.

Update 2026-04-17: I changed some tolerances so the mechanism runs more freely. Reduced the total diameter of the wheel slightly to let it function better. Also changed the bgcode and 3mf files to PLA

Update 2026-04-18: I modified the tolerances a bit again. Now it is optimized for PLA

Printing & Assembly

• Material:

  • Wheel: PLA

  • Rollers: PLA (TPU gives more friction)

• Axles: short pieces of filament, make sure the filament pieces are straight

• Print quantity:

  • Wheel halves: 2×

  • Rollers: 12× (the .3mf file includes 13 pieces – one spare)

• Assembly tips:

  • The wheel halves include alignment holes. Insert short filament pieces to help align both halves during gluing.

  • You will likely need to ream all holes for a proper fit:

    • Alignment holes: 1.8 – 2.0 mm

    • Axle holes: 2.0 mm likely not needed anymore

Final Notes

If you like the design, I’d really appreciate a 👍
If you print it, feel free to share some photos
And if you have any questions, just ask!

And when you have ideas where this design can be useful, please share.