Rolling Animals - Disadvantages of Wheels - Traction

Traction

Wheels are prone to slipping—an inability to generate traction—on loose or slippery terrain. Slipping wastes energy, and can potentially lead to a loss of control or becoming stuck, as with an automobile on mud, ice, or snow. This disadvantage of wheels is apparent in the realm of human technology; in an example of biologically inspired engineering, legged vehicles find use in the logging industry, where they allow access to more challenging terrain than wheeled vehicles can navigate. Tracked vehicles suffer less from slipping than wheeled vehicles, due to their larger contact area with the ground—but they tend to have larger turning radii than wheeled vehicles, and are less efficient and more mechanically complex.