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It, now called Segway, revealed


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homer
Member

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:
I'm just curious how it handles mud and snow drifts.

I wonder if you can get snow tires for it.

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12-04-2001 02:46 PM

Soul Raven
Member

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 239

quote:
Originally posted by MarkEagle
Do you think they'll offer an on-board holder for my Visor?

They did a thing on Nightline last night (even the Daily Show did a bit), and I did see one model with bags on it. It looked like there was a bag about the size of a laptop bag mounted just above each wheel and one on the front. Since it's balances itself, you could load it up without too much worry. They also showed the postal version, with bags for the mailman. That one did have a more robust stand, almost chariot-like.

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12-04-2001 03:03 PM

PDAENVY
Member

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

quote:
Originally posted by Soul Raven
...They also showed the postal version, with bags for the mailman. That one did have a more robust stand, almost chariot-like.

Odd, I got the impression from the GMA segment that the consumer version would be smaller than what was being demonstrated rather than the industrial version being larger than what was being demonstrated.

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12-04-2001 03:48 PM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by homer
I wonder if you can get snow tires for it.

Or a hitch. I could drag my son to daycare in his wagon. Maybe keep a tow rope in one of the saddle bags - just in case.

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Last edited by dick-richardson on 12-04-2001 at 04:57 PM

12-04-2001 04:50 PM

creole
Member

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 347

I wonder what the weight limit is. How would it react to hills, would the drive be perpendicular to the hill's angle or a 180 angle?

12-04-2001 06:06 PM

homer
Member

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:
I wonder what the weight limit is. How would it react to hills, would the drive be perpendicular to the hill's angle or a 180 angle?

It has a 200 lb weight limit and the video shows it climbing modest hills/ramps (30 degrees?)

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12-04-2001 06:45 PM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by homer
It has a 200 lb weight ...

The idea being that if you're heavier you could use the exercise?

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

12-04-2001 08:25 PM

Keefer Lucas
Member

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

quote:
Originally posted by MarkEagle

Do you think they'll offer an on-board holder for my Visor?

There should definately be a good number of USB ports conveniently located on the device. Or maybe a Bluetooth aura.

12-05-2001 01:39 AM

MarkEagle
VisorCentral Staff

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:
Originally posted by dick-richardson
Or a hitch. I could drag my son to daycare in his wagon.

There was a piece on my local news last night showing the Segway in use at Amazon.com's warehouse... towing one of those garden carts you'd use with your lawn tractor! The clerk was picking orders and loading them in the cart for shipment .

Apparently, not only is Jeff Bezos a major finacier of Kamen's, he's going to be one of his first customers.

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12-05-2001 01:52 AM

MarkEagle
VisorCentral Staff

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:
Originally posted by Keefer Lucas
a good number of USB ports... ...Bluetooth

Oh, goodie... so I'll be able to hotsync AND surf the web while riding around!

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12-05-2001 01:55 AM

LeaDxPainT
Member

Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 229

This thing runs with gyro technology!, that's nuts. I guess it could take over for Mail men and such seeing they do a lot of walking. This thing was meant to take over walking, but dosn't seem like it will anytime soon, to many kinks to work out..like some one said earlier up on the thread "Pot Holes" and especialy roots on sidewalks. Still an awsome toy.

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12-05-2001 02:11 AM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by LeaDxPainT
This thing was meant to take over walking,

No, it wasn't.

quote:
to many kinks to work out..like some one said earlier up on the thread "Pot Holes" and especialy roots on sidewalks. Still an awsome toy.

which has been responded to. If the claims are true, pot holes won't be a problem, nor will roots. The thing doesn't fall over. That means that if you push someone on it, they won't fall over, either. If you sink into a pot hole that it can't roll out of, it will stand upright so you can pull it out manually.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

12-05-2001 03:32 AM

Soul Raven
Member

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 239

quote:
Originally posted by MarkEagle
Apparently, not only is Jeff Bezos a major finacier of Kamen's, he's going to be one of his first customers.

Well, from page 5 of the Time.com article, he certainly seems to be a fan.

I am more of a skeptical supporter. Do I think it will change the world? Maybe. Do I think it is a huge technological achievement? Definately. I want one. I need one. (Granted, I need it about as much as my Prism, or even Aibo). I am more interested in seeing how this technology can be used in other projects. I would think that autonomous robots could really benefit from not being able to fall over.

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12-05-2001 03:24 PM

homer
Member

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:
pot holes won't be a problem, nor will roots. The thing doesn't fall over. That means that if you push someone on it, they won't fall over, either. If you sink into a pot hole that it can't roll out of, it will stand upright so you can pull it out manually.

Anything that prevents the wheels from progressing forward will be a hazard. If it hits a pot hole that it can not get out of at 12mph, it will more than likely throw the rider forward. It depends on the movement of the wheels to balance the rider. If the wheels can't move, it can't balance the rider.

It is no different than a bike. If a bike hits a curb and the wheels aren't large enough to go over it, it will throw the rider. The bike, however, has a slight advantage with it's bigger wheels and its more stable front-to-back axis.

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12-05-2001 03:58 PM

Yorick
Member

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

quote:
Originally posted by LeaDxPainT
This thing runs with gyro technology!, that's nuts.

Why? seems reasonable to me; a gyroscope is typically used to keep things level in relation to gravity regardless of terrain.

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12-05-2001 04:12 PM

homer
Member

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

For the record, Bikes also work on gyro technology.

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12-05-2001 05:15 PM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by homer
Anything that prevents the wheels from progressing forward will be a hazard...

There's always backwards. At this point, everything is conjecture.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

12-05-2001 07:24 PM

homer
Member

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:
There's always backwards. At this point, everything is conjecture.

If you are moving forward and you stop suddenly, having the wheels go backwards is simply going to throw you to the ground even faster.

To go forward, you have to be leaning forward at all times. To go in reverse, you need to lean backwords at all times. The vehicle isn't actually designed to move you, it is designed to keep you balanced. If you lean forward, it, too must move forward at an ever-so-slightly faster pace to keep you from falling.

In theory, once you are maxed out at top speed, if you suddenly shift your weight forward, you are going to fall, as the machine simply can't keep up with you.

It's the same as a unicycle. Or, a better example would be when you balance a baseball bat on the palm of your hand. As the bat falls forward, you must move the palm forward so that the bottom of the bat and top of the bat are aligned (= balanced). If you run into the fence while that bat is moving forward, pulling your hand backwords will just throw the bat off balance faster.

I don't think there is any conjecture to it. The basic premise of the vehicle is quite simple. Actually building it to do what it does (emulate the brain's own balance system) is what is so amazing.

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12-05-2001 07:59 PM

MarkEagle
VisorCentral Staff

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:
Originally posted by homer
If the wheels can't move, it can't balance the rider.

By itself, this quote is taken out of context... and it's not entirely true. The wheels could be stationary (chocked) and you could still maintain your balance (Charles Gibson was standing still on it for several minutes in the GMA studio with his hands in his pockets).

In context (and reality), at 12mph (and probably even a lot less), the laws of physics take over and the inertia of the sudden stop at the obstacle would most likely toss you headfirst off the Segway. Another way to look at this: what happens when you're walking and your foot hits an obstacle? You fall down, go boom, right?

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12-05-2001 10:37 PM

LeaDxPainT
Member

Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 229

quote:
Originally posted by dick-richardson

which has been responded to. If the claims are true, pot holes won't be a problem, nor will roots. The thing doesn't fall over. That means that if you push someone on it, they won't fall over, either. If you sink into a pot hole that it can't roll out of, it will stand upright so you can pull it out manually.

A body in motion stays in motion unless acted upon be another force. So if your in your little japanese car (lets say my Toyota Celica 80's) the only thing stoping me from flying foward is my seat belt. And i dont have to be driving that fast for this to happen. On the Segway, if you hit a bumb/hole whatever, the person riding it will fly off going at a good speed, the only thing keeping you from flying off is that little thing you hold in front of you. I would trust that with my life. Sure the segway will stay upright, but you'd be looking at it from the ground. Hey, i got nothing against this thing, i'm actualy interested in it. A few kinks are a few kinks, it's still new.

Homer points this out as well but i had to speak my mind.

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12-05-2001 11:29 PM

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