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, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
lowered demand for new ground support vehicles as airlines cut costs. Since then,
Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
has purchased several ODV's for its
787 Dreamliner project. The
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
has also procured ODVs for use at
Robins Air Force Base
Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, Georgia, Warner Robins, south-southea ...
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.
In popular culture
The ODV appeared in the 2009 film
Star Trek (2009 film)
''Star Trek'' is a 2009 American science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, and is also a Reboot (fiction), rebo ...
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 wit ...
*
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 from .
The first generation was designed and delivered in 1968 to the Air ...
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