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The wagon-wheel effect (alternatively called stagecoach-wheel effect) is an optical illusion in which a spoked wheel appears to rotate differently from its true rotation. The wheel can appear to rotate more slowly than the true rotation, it can appear stationary, or it can appear to rotate in the opposite direction from the true rotation ...
Wheels can also lose traction when surface conditions reduce available traction such as on snow and ice. As an open differential delivers only enough torque to cause the "weakest" wheel to spin, if one drive wheel is stationary on a low traction surface (mud, ice, etc.), the deliverable torque is limited to the traction available on it.
It accounts for the "wagon-wheel effect", so-called because in video, spoked wheels (such as on horse-drawn wagons) sometimes appear to be turning backwards. A strobe fountain, a stream of water droplets falling at regular intervals lit with a strobe light , is an example of the stroboscopic effect being applied to a cyclic motion that is not ...
Furthermore, automatically locking differentials can cause a loss of control on ice where an open differential would allow one wheel to spin and the other to hold, while not transferring power. An example of this would be a vehicle parked sideways on a slippery grade. When both wheels spin, the vehicle will break traction and slide down the grade.
The stroboscopic effect makes each seem to be a single animated object. By allowing the rotation speed to be slightly out of synchronization with the strobe, the animated objects can be made to appear to also move slowly forwards or backwards, according to how much faster or slower each rotation is than the corresponding series of strobe flashes.
The Magnus effect is a phenomenon that occurs when a spinning object is moving through a fluid. A lift force acts on the spinning object and its path may be deflected in a manner not present when it is not spinning. The strength and direction of the Magnus effect is dependent on the speed and direction of the rotation of the object.
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The main advantage is that the driver does not need to leave the vehicle to connect the wheels to the axle. The disadvantage with this system is that most designs require the vehicle to move some distance (usually a whole wheel turn, often going backwards) after engaging the hubs in order for the hubs to engage or disengage.