Prolific Thomas Palm Releases New Tire and Rim Designs for OpenRC Project

Over the past year, we’ve published several articles about the OpenRC Project, the open-source project created by Daniel Noreé that has gathered a large community of makers, designers and radio-controlled vehicle enthusiasts. One of the most prolific of the community’s makers is Thomas Palm, a Swedish mechanical engineer who has pursued, in his spare time, everything from architecture to photography to publishing. His current focus is 3D printing, and he has designed an impressive variety of wheels and tires for the OpenRC Project. Already, his wheel and tire designs can be used in over one hundred combinations for your RC car, but Palm hasn’t stopped there. He’s been keeping busy, and is now releasing new designs for three different OpenRC projects.

Palm is a close friend of project founder Noreé, and has worked with him on several projects. Noreé will soon be releasing the files for his newest creation, the OpenRC Formula 1; while no release date has been given, Palm states that his friend is “extremely close” to releasing them. Those who are planning to print the F1 when it is released can already purchase a ball bearing kit, and Palm has designed some new tires that are available for download now, so you can be one step ahead when the files for the car are released.

“I created some rain tires for the original rims but I also designed a set of low profile rim/tires just for fun,” Palm tells 3DPrint.com. “The low profile tires feature a new snap-on design that will secure the tire using a triangular shape that´s interconnecting the parts. Also the tires are not sealed with this design, making them a bit softer since the air is not trapped inside.”

He also created a snap-on design for the OpenRC Touring Car; the rims and the tires can both be downloaded from Thingiverse. And, lest Truggy enthusiasts feel left out, he’s designed snap-on rims for them as well, making assembly much easier for makers who don’t want to have to deal with screws.

Palm’s design talent is not limited to RC cars. He recently won MyMiniFactory’s Support Free Vase and Planter Design Competition with his lovely and functional Palmiga Globe Bouquet Vase, and he has also come up with some ingenious ways to conserve water. His company, Rubber 3D Printing, made the news for its conductive TPU filament, which Palm created by adding carbon to his standard TPU filament. If that’s not enough, Palm teases 3DPrint.com  that he “does have a fun thing coming up later” but will not release details at this time. Based on his inventive work thus far, I’m excited to see what he’ll come out with next.

Check out his Truggy tires in action here: