Changes to the Segway
 

If you could make some changes to the segway, what would they be?


Mine would be the powersource or the ability to climb stairs... maybe a new method of hands-free turning

Same here, but add a longer battery life (days, not hours).

I would probably add a headlight/brake light, and possible different color schemes.

:)

People like modularity, add-ons, and the ability to easily change the color of a product (eg, the faceplates of the nokia cellphones). But thats just the surface stuff..

smaller and lighter. Able to be put in a backpack.

It would be nice to be able to ride it to class, but once you get there what do you do with it. There are four flights of stairs to climb and small classroom.

When Eric Fleming had one up at Syracuse, he said he would ask permission from the professor to leave it on the side of the class.. or in front.

Also, whatever happened to the "it" claim that "it" could be placed in two small duffel bags, and assembled or dis-asembled in five minutes with simple tools......

Wierd.

I met that guy, he let me ride the segway for the first time. I tried to contact him again awhile ago, whats he up to?

color schemes??? hehehe go here --> bwhahahaha

yeah
able to fit into a backpack
lighter
longer lasting battery

oh yeah LESS EXPENSIVE!!!!!!

I'd add two more wheels to make it more stable....

Ouch- that hurt!!

um, one little thing. The whole part about segway only having 2 wheels is why it is so cool. It is what makes it a technological masterpiece, know what i mean. Add 2 more wheels, and you kill the whole idea/ purpose

Errr it does:) or it should in the near future. Remeber three wheels on each side.:D

WE KNOW!

Its just we want to see a working model

I say it needs snow tires or little chains to go around the tires.

They do.

The ability to burn out :-)

i got one of the tires to spin a bit when i was making a tight turn on sand.... it never felt like it lost control or anything though.

Tom

Turbo Charged Motors
 

It needs the ability to go at least 30 MPH. They need an all-terrain device with 4 wheel drive and super horse power.

There have been a couple of posts about adding wheels to increase it abilities (such as 4-wheel drive) but wouldn"t this defeat the purpose? If you have something with wheels, why not use them all the time? It would be pointless to have a form of transportation with two wheels lying around for special occasions. The tri-star wheel thing (check out this site)would be the way to make it climb stairs, but it wouldn"t look as elegant as the orginal (which is the best part about it.) Any other ideas on how to make a two-wheel Segway climb stairs?

Re: Turbo Charged Motors
 

Going 15 mph without any protection is dangerous enough, so why go 30? It not only kill more, it would enrage the pedestrian rights orginizations.

And try to fit a supercharged engin into that little frame.

some.....
 

segways go 15, scooters go 20, bikes go 20+, go-karts go 30+, ATVs go 50+, and cars go 100+.

WHY NOT MAKE THE SEGWAY GO FASTER????????

your tri star wheel design doesnt use all of its wheels.......................... at the same time, you dont make any sense! My 4 wheel design would allow it to climb stairs also, just like deans wheel chair

The Tri-star wheel design is in Dean Kamen's original patent.



Segways can't really go faster or they will become a hazard for both the rider and pedestrians around it. Segways, unlike bikes, have a problem with inertia. Bikes have the ability to lean, redirecting the outward centripetal force downward.


Segways cannot lean. If they attempt to perform a sharp turn, the rider will be flung off sideways.

Bicycles rarely go more than 20 MPH is a very liberal estimate for bicycles. Typically they only go 15 mph (your average person).

Re: some.....
 

All your modes of transportation are either
a.) banned from sidewalks
b.) require, by law, safety gear
c.) are inclosed
d.) require training

Segway stives for NONE of the above sceanarios. They want you to buy one and ride it home. As for the 2 wheel design, the iBot can do it, but it requries the person to help pull it up. But with two wheels, it would raise the platform atleast 6 more inches up.

I agree with what you said, excpet for that last part. Purchase of a Segway requires that you go to a training session. Of course, I have no idea if that is just for this first batch, so Dean can make sure there are no initial problems, or if it is going to always be like that.

Stephen

I thought of that too, but even if all they do is sign a waver saying that you are responsible, not Segway, it's easier to learn than say, a car or driving a bus.

It doesnt matter if you have a 4 wheel design for climbing stairs or a 6 wheel design, it would still require you to lean, so that your center of gravity is where it needs to be. As for the people in rural areas that need to traverse hills, drop-offs, and steps, we would need some other design than the one Segway has currently. Also what happens when you drive it on pure ice????? If you are going Segways top speed on ice and you suddenly lean back you are going to land back first on the ice, no matter what. You are going to need 4 wheel drive or something better for traction. I know dean has drawings of his 6 wheel design but did you notice that the platform is very thick also? The tri-star design also has smaller wheels, which wouldn't go over well with bumps in the sidewalk........ (I can see the person flying off head first right now!)

As for the 30 MPH segway, my point is that it wouldn't be used for sidewalk use. It would be used for racing, just for fun, or maybe you could use it for police so they can get where they need to be very quickly. You also can make it lean just like bikes, all you need to do is let the platform lean left or right.

BadBrad

Racing, no, but Dean once said that they can make them go 35 mph for Police if they need it to go that fast.

As for snow and ice, click here.

Have you guys seen this? It's a leaning controlled electric scooter like the segway. Though it doesn't balance on two wheels, it does 60mph :D These would be pretty sweet if they ever make them. You could really race...


More on it here

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A Segway do 35mph? You sure? If it was even physically possible with the hardware, people would find a way to hack the control computer and create that speed mode...

Thats true, I was walking down from the FIRST building to the merrimack one day with another FIRST PLACE staff member and dean came-up to us on his segway and asked where someone was. His segway seemed to go really fast... maybe it was just me

Yes i saw that device in popular science
 

All you need to do to make a segway lean is look at this device....

Take away the whole device except the arms, mount segway wheels on the arms, and mount the arms on a segway

Sorry bud, but that wouldn"t work. The back wheel is necesary because it provides power (it would be really troublesome to put the motive power into the front wheels because they move) and it provides part of the triangle that changes to make the tri-cycle lean. If the front two wheels had an axis in the opposite direction (perpendicular to direction of motion instead of parallel with) the base would be able to lean, but it would be rather hard to have the wheels powered and moving in relation to the base. If you have any way to make this work or if I misinterpereted what you meant, do tell.