The Omni Directional Vehicle (ODV) is a ground support utility vehicle manufactured by Hammonds Technical Services Inc. in Houston, Texas. The ODV can perform a variety of jobs, including towing aircraft and plowing snow. The largest variant, the G-90, can tow up to 90,000 pounds. The ODV's main advantage over other utility vehicles is its zero degree turning radius, which allows it to turn in any direction from a fixed point. This allows the ODV to operate in confined spaces by eliminating the need to turn the vehicle in a large arc. The driver can also tow in any direction without having to look over their shoulder. The ODV is a round vehicle with a rotary hitch mounted on its outer ring to allow the driver to quickly make adjustments or to switch between pushing or pulling. The vehicle turns by engaging either of its two drive wheels.
History and development
The ODV began development in the late 1990s, and was slated to enter the commercial ground support equipment market in 2001, but the
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
lowered demand for new ground support vehicles as airlines cut costs. Since then,
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
has purchased several ODV's for its
787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
project. The
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
has also procured ODVs for use at
Robins Air Force Base
Variants
The ODV comes in four general models, the G-18, G-30, G-60 and G-90. Each vehicle can be fitted with attachments that convert the ODV into a tow bar tractor, a towbarless tractor (the ODAT), snow plow, or rotary broom.
[http://www.hammondsodv.com/odv/files/g30.pdf ]
In popular culture
The ODV appeared in the 2009 film
Star Trek (film) as one of the loading vehicles at Starfleet Academy.
See also
*
MB-2 Tow Tractor
*
M2 High Speed Tractor
The M2 High-Speed Tractor (or colloquially M2 Cletrac) was an aircraft tug used by the United States Army Air Forces from 1942.
Construction
The M2 is a fully tracked vehicle designed to tow aircraft on primitive airfields. It was equipped with a ...
*
U-30 Tow Tractor
The U-30 Tow Tractor is an aircraft towing vehicle used by the United States and Allied Air Force. There are several models of the U-30 tractor, with weight characteristics between .
The first generation was designed and delivered in 1968 to t ...
References
{{Cite web
, last = Blain
, first = Loz
, title = Hammonds Omni-Directional Vehicle to assist in production of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner
, publisher = Gizmag
, date = 28 January 2008
, url = http://www.gizmag.com/hammonds-omni-directional-vehicle-boeing-787/8720/
, accessdate = 23 February 2010
External links
Official website of the ODVPromotional video showing the ODV's capabilities
Land vehicles
Aircraft ground handling
Aviation ground support equipment
Snow removal
Equipment of the United States Air Force