A self balancing unicycle that it takes several hours to learn to ride. Genius.
I’ve ridden two different ones, and they were the same. Except they didn’t have a hand control. I wonder what that’s for? Frank Malick’s gas-powered unicycles of the 1960s used a hand control for throttle power, but the electric ones from Trevor Blackwell and the guys in Oregon (the one you can buy) are both hands-free.
But it takes practice learning to ride them, because, as the article accurately describes, the “balancing” mechanism in them takes care of the front-to-back power, but doesn’t have control over the steering. I don’t know if that can be overcome unless you use a spherical wheel, like that Honda prototype. So the rider has to figure out how to correct side-to-side balance, which also goes along with steering. It’s usually pretty easy for unicyclists to figure out (mostly having to do with suppressing reflexes to pedal and learning how the power system responds). People who don’t ride unicycles are naturally going to have a longer learning curve.
Like Trevor, I get the impression that the maker of this new electric uni also was not a unicycle rider before he started. Trevor learned to ride during the process of developing his. He also posted instructions online, which this new guy may have referenced in his own design.
If you follow the link to the original Daily Mail article it says that it’s a kill switch - presumably to stop it doing a death twitch? Though I’ve no idea why a UK newspaper apparently picked this up first!