The Soviet era left us a legacy not only of great achievements but also of impressive technological curiosities and failures. In this section of InventFail.com, we collect the most fascinating examples: from ambitious yet impractical projects to brilliant ideas ruined by bureaucracy or lack of resources. We analyze technical miscalculations, systemic flaws, and the historical context to understand why these inventions never became part of our everyday lives. Could some of these forgotten concepts be waiting for a second chance? Explore Soviet tech failures with us and share your discoveries!
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: Setun Computer
Developers: Nikolay Petrovich Brusentsov (lead), E.A. Zhogolev, V.V. Vereshchagin, S.P. Maslov, A.M. Tishulina, and others (Moscow State University, MSU)
Country: USSR
Period: Development 1956-1958, serial production 1959-1965
Essence: A small digital computer (EDC), unique for operating based on a ternary symmetric numeral system (-1, 0, +1) instead of the commonly used binary system.
The "Setun" was a pioneering development that demonstrated the potential advantages of ternary logic (higher information density, easier execution of certain arithmetic operations). However, it did not gain widespread adoption and development, remaining a unique experiment. The main reason for its "failure" (in terms of lack of continuation and mass adoption) was the global and Soviet computer industry's focus on the binary system, which made the "Setun" incompatible and "non-standard," as well as possible misunderstanding and lack of support from scientific officials.
Brief Summary
Invention/Project: VNIITE PT (Prospective Taxi)
Developer: VNIITE (All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics), Yu. A. Dolmatovsky and others.
Country: USSR
Development Period: Early 1960s (prototype ~1964)
Essence: An experimental car specifically designed as a taxi, featuring a futuristic design, cab-over layout (engine at the rear, driver over the front axle), sliding passenger door, and fiberglass body.
A little-known but very interesting project that remained at the stage of a single prototype due to production complexities, anticipated high costs, and lack of demand from the industry. A model of advanced design and ergonomics that found no application.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Project: Ball Train (high-speed train on spherical/roller bearings in a trough).
Inventor: Engineer Nikolai Grigorievich Yarmolchuk.
Country: USSR.
Development Period: Early 1930s.
Essence: An original high-speed transportation system with carriages moving along a concrete trough on electrically driven bearings.
An ambitious, futuristic engineering project that was not realized due to technical difficulties and high cost. An example of a technological failure or an idea ahead of its time.
Summary:
Invention/Project: OGAS (National Automated System for Accounting and Information Processing).
Visionary/Leader: Academician Viktor Mikhailovich Glushkov.
Country: USSR.
Development period: 1960s - 1970s.
Essence: A project to create a unified nationwide computer network for collecting and processing economic data and managing the economy.
A visionary yet unrealized megaproject. Failed due to bureaucracy, high costs, technological challenges, and lack of political will. An important lesson about systemic barriers to technological progress.
Summary:
Invention/Project: VVA-14 (Vertical Takeoff Amphibious Aircraft / Ground Effect Vehicle)
Designer: Robert Ludvigovich Bartini
Country: USSR
Development period: 1960s - 1970s (test flights from 1972)
Concept: Experimental aircraft combining functions of conventional airplane, amphibious vehicle, VTOL aircraft, and ground effect vehicle.
An exceptionally ambitious and futuristic project that was never fully realized due to technical challenges (missing critical engines), integration difficulties between flight modes, and termination after the designer's death. A prime example of technological "overreach".