What if you didn't have to pedal your unicycle?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Hi guys,

I wondered this.
So I put a motor on one.

A gyroscope monitors how you are falling and speeds up or slows down the motor – just like your legs would. I learned to ride a unicycle at age 40. I wanted to last longer on my unicycle so I had two choices - (1) Lose weight or (2) Put a motor on it. I went for option (2). However, now that I have seen the videos, I will also be working on (1) because, to be honest, 265lbs is stessing out my motor just like it did my legs!

My electric unicycle is called the Gizmono. It has the advantage of silent direct drive operation, and optical body sensing for safety shutdown.

You can download a video clip of it in action at: www.gizmocycle.com

Now this is about as self-promoting as I get. I do apologize if my responses are poor as I am spending time to improve the torque of the machine.

I was just wondering if the unicycle community thinks this kind of thing is good or if I removed all the sport out of it.

If you want to build your own, I recommend you visit www.tlb.org for Trevor Blackwell’s excellent documentation and videos on his Eunicycle. My design is totally different from his, so don’t be afraid to throw in your own improvments to continue advancement in this field.

As far as the ride goes, it is much smoother than a unicycle. All you have to do is make slight arm movements to turn and keep your lateral stability. Other unicyclists have it down in about 2 minutes. It almost feels like an out-of-body experience because you seem to just will yourself in the direction you want to go – and you go there - effortlessly.

Well, let me know what you think.

2

How fast can you go on it?

3

In theory, 20 MPH based on the 20" rim on a flat. This actually shows a less than optimal choice of motor as torque is king for unicycles and self balancing machines. My new design will have a theoretical limit of 16 MPH translating to torque on a smaller 16" rim. It will have an electrical limit of 12 MPH (the fastest a human can run and still save himself) The extra 4 MPH serves as saftey margin for terrain disturbance correction at 12 MPH.

I have personal experience from powerboarding, where I was ejected at 16MPH. For the first few steps I really thought I saved myself. But like a magical giant of physics - I felt a gental 4 MPH push that I could not keep up with. A painful lesson.

4

Definitely sounds cool, but it does take some of the magic out of it. Part of the kick I get out of unicycling is powering the crazy machine myself. I’m the only limit of what I can do on my unicycle.

And take out that “safety margin” stuff. It’s ruining the magic too. If you’re not afraid to ride it, it isn’t fast enough. TO THE XTREME!

I have to give you credit for engineering that thing, though. I couldn’t do it.

5

I feel it is so different to a unicycle that it is in a class of its own and does not ruin unicycling at all. Its like b*kes and motorbikes. Well done! If I ever see you I will be sure to talk to you (I live in England so dont worry).

Mike

[EDIT] I cant view the video, can you upload it onto the galleries here? [EDIT]