OT: Segway Transporter thoughts

General
1

I’ve seen a few clips of the Segway now and I’ve been wondering…

  1. Does it idle? I’ve never seen a clip of it standing still with a rider
    on it. I wonder if the wheels rotate in opposite directions to twist it
    slightly and keep it balanced?

  2. What size are those tires? They look cool, and the website says they
    are tube-less, designed for low rolling resistance at low pressure and
    have a silica compound molded in them to provide traction on wet
    surfaces and also not leave pavement marks. Sounds interesting.

  3. Will they be available on Unicycle.com? :slight_smile:

-Rick

PS: I’d love to see a modified Segway giraffe!

2

unigami wrote:

> 1) Does it idle? I’ve never seen a clip of it standing still with a
> rider on it. I wonder if the wheels rotate in opposite directions to
> twist it slightly and keep it balanced?

It idles, just not like what idling is on a unicycle. Just like your car
is idle when you are stopped at a stoplight, the segway is stationary
when idling.

To keep itself balanced, it uses some pretty heavy flywheels (which is why
it weighs so much) and these flywheels when spinning keep it balanced
because of the gyroscopics (I’m sure the english/latin/greek buffs will
correct me if I used the wrong suffix). An example of gyroscopes can be
seen if you take the front wheel off your unused bike (mine is collecting
dust) and spin the wheel. Then balance one end of the axle on your finger
and the spinning wheel will stay upright (it might twist to the side, but
will remain perpendicular to the ground).

  • Gilby
3

Segway

It’s a pretty high-tech package, using solid-state gyroscopes. There’s a good article about the Segway, and more specifically, the gyroscopes, on wired.com:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,48920,00.html

Kevin

4

That’s english/latin/greek GEEKS, not buffs. Buffs is not appropriately derogatory.

5

I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
physically hold it up.

Chris

Gilby wrote:
>
> unigami wrote:
>
> > 1) Does it idle? I’ve never seen a clip of it standing still with a
> > rider on it. I wonder if the wheels rotate in opposite directions
> > to twist it slightly and keep it balanced?
>
> It idles, just not like what idling is on a unicycle. Just like your car
> is idle when you are stopped at a stoplight, the segway is stationary
> when idling.
>
> To keep itself balanced, it uses some pretty heavy flywheels (which is
> why it weighs so much) and these flywheels when spinning keep it
> balanced because of the gyroscopics (I’m sure the english/latin/greek
> buffs will correct me if I used the wrong suffix). An example of
> gyroscopes can be seen if you take the front wheel off your unused bike
> (mine is collecting dust) and spin the wheel. Then balance one end of
> the axle on your finger and the spinning wheel will stay upright (it
> might twist to the side, but will remain perpendicular to the ground).
>
> - Gilby

6

I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
physically hold it up.

Chris

Gilby wrote:
>
> unigami wrote:
>
> > 1) Does it idle? I’ve never seen a clip of it standing still with a
> > rider on it. I wonder if the wheels rotate in opposite directions
> > to twist it slightly and keep it balanced?
>
> It idles, just not like what idling is on a unicycle. Just like your car
> is idle when you are stopped at a stoplight, the segway is stationary
> when idling.
>
> To keep itself balanced, it uses some pretty heavy flywheels (which is
> why it weighs so much) and these flywheels when spinning keep it
> balanced because of the gyroscopics (I’m sure the english/latin/greek
> buffs will correct me if I used the wrong suffix). An example of
> gyroscopes can be seen if you take the front wheel off your unused bike
> (mine is collecting dust) and spin the wheel. Then balance one end of
> the axle on your finger and the spinning wheel will stay upright (it
> might twist to the side, but will remain perpendicular to the ground).
>
> - Gilby

7

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

There’s not that much to hold up. Mostly it looks like it just needs to
stay underneath the rider’s center of mass.

I don’t know how much weight is taken up by the gyros, because a big chunk
of the weight has to also be batteries. If it goes 17 miles under its own
power, there’s got to be some significant battery power in there…

JF

8

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

There’s not that much to hold up. Mostly it looks like it just needs to
stay underneath the rider’s center of mass.

I don’t know how much weight is taken up by the gyros, because a big chunk
of the weight has to also be batteries. If it goes 17 miles under its own
power, there’s got to be some significant battery power in there…

JF

9

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

There’s not that much to hold up. Mostly it looks like it just needs to
stay underneath the rider’s center of mass.

I don’t know how much weight is taken up by the gyros, because a big chunk
of the weight has to also be batteries. If it goes 17 miles under its own
power, there’s got to be some significant battery power in there…

JF

10

Chris Reeder wrote:

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?

  • Gilby
11

Chris Reeder wrote:

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?

  • Gilby
12

Chris Reeder wrote:

> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
> physically hold it up.

I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?

  • Gilby
13

I thought the same as Chris: gyros to send signals about uprightness to
its on-board intelligence. In my imagination it would be hold up
physically by the same “thing” that keeps you balanced on the uni:
i.e. driving force forward or backward.

Klaas Bil

On Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:27:22 -0600, Kevin Gilbertson
<mail@gilby.com> wrote:

>Chris Reeder wrote:
>
>> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
>> physically hold it up.
>
>
>I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?
>
>- Gilby
>

–
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “Terrorism Defensive Information, ISACA,
Donald McLean”

14

I thought the same as Chris: gyros to send signals about uprightness to
its on-board intelligence. In my imagination it would be hold up
physically by the same “thing” that keeps you balanced on the uni:
i.e. driving force forward or backward.

Klaas Bil

On Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:27:22 -0600, Kevin Gilbertson
<mail@gilby.com> wrote:

>Chris Reeder wrote:
>
>> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
>> physically hold it up.
>
>
>I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?
>
>- Gilby
>

–
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “Terrorism Defensive Information, ISACA,
Donald McLean”

15

I thought the same as Chris: gyros to send signals about uprightness to
its on-board intelligence. In my imagination it would be hold up
physically by the same “thing” that keeps you balanced on the uni:
i.e. driving force forward or backward.

Klaas Bil

On Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:27:22 -0600, Kevin Gilbertson
<mail@gilby.com> wrote:

>Chris Reeder wrote:
>
>> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
>> physically hold it up.
>
>
>I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?
>
>- Gilby
>

–
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “Terrorism Defensive Information, ISACA,
Donald McLean”

16

I thought the same as Chris: gyros to send signals about uprightness to
its on-board intelligence. In my imagination it would be hold up
physically by the same “thing” that keeps you balanced on the uni:
i.e. driving force forward or backward.

Klaas Bil

On Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:27:22 -0600, Kevin Gilbertson
<mail@gilby.com> wrote:

>Chris Reeder wrote:
>
>> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
>> physically hold it up.
>
>
>I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?
>
>- Gilby
>

–
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “Terrorism Defensive Information, ISACA,
Donald McLean”

17

harper wrote:

> That’s english/latin/greek GEEKS, not buffs. Buffs is not appropriately
> derogatory.

OK… If you really prefer to have an “unusual or odd personality” (geek)
towards english/latin/greek instead of being “enthusiastic and
knowledgeable” (buff) about it.

  • Gilby
18

I remember a student in my major designed this balancing, um, thing, for
his senior project. There was a motor which ran forwards and backwards
along a track. On the top of that motor, attached with a hinge was a
stick. You would start the motor out in the middle of the track, turn it
on, hold the stick upright, and let go. The motor would move about forward
and back, in an effort to balance the stick.

Basically, the hinge connection was a potentiameter, which essentially
told the processor what the angle of the stick was. The angle would
determine which direction, and how quickly in that direction, the motor
should move to maintain a balance.

Quite frequently, this machine would reach the point of perfect balance,
and the motor would stop moving, and the stick would remain upright.
Needing further entertainment from the device, we would generally tap the
stick, to set it out of balance again.

I would presume the segway has a very similar design. When a person has
stopped, I would expect it may move forward and backwards very slightly if
necessary, but more often, would find the proper balance point.

As for how it remains balanced upright when no one is riding it, I am not
certain. Either it’s just weight-balanced to remain upright, or, in all
the demonstrations, we’ve never seen anyone turn the thing off.

I have yet to do any reading about the segway. All I know about it is from
the very small news clips I’ve seen.

jeff lutkus

> Chris Reeder wrote:
>
>> I would imagine it has electronic gyros only to control it, but not to
>> physically hold it up.
>
>
> I’m listening. What’s keeping it balanced then?
>
> - Gilby
>
>
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