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-   -   Segway will have competition.... (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22198)

Anthony Towne 08-10-2003 09:18

Segway will have competition....
 
Check this out. Bombardier is coming up with a "Segway unicycle" to compete with Dean's Segway. http://www.popsci.com/popsci/auto/ar...489828,00.html

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 09:27

"Coming up" ?!

I dont think so:

Quote:

The unit was meant as inspiration for industrial designers who dream of one-upping Dean Kamen's baby. For now though, this Embrio is still in utero—no working model yet exists.
maybe it will be in a star wars movie, but in the real world you need a 'working model' before you can sell them.

Anthony Towne 08-10-2003 09:33

true, but the design is there. They wouldn't make the concept and advertise it and not go through with it. It may take a little time.

Andy Brockway 08-10-2003 09:40

Advance Orders?
 
In 'Machine Design' , Sept 18, The price for this unit is $10,200.

They do mention that is a peek into the fiture.

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 09:43

I thnik its meant more to show-off design capibilities, that you can dream up something that might be possible someday (25 years from now) and make up a prototype to show what it will look like.

not that they have any idea how to make one actually work

not yet anyway :c)

engineering is kinda like magic in a way. Once you see someone do a magic trick, then you know its possible, and you only need to figure out how they did it.

thats part of the reason we have patents - once people see something working they will figure out how it works eventually

concepts like this one wheel motorcycle are like that - they get people thinking, inspired

in fact, I think its safe to say the Segway was inspired by the Ibot wheelchair - taking the idea one step in a different direction.

BTW - 25 years would be just about right, thats when Deans patents will begin to expire for the Segway :c)

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 09:52

BTW, in this link from that article they got the laws of physics wrong:

http://www.recreation.bombardier.com...spx?press=2005

it says in this theoretical vehicle of the future, to turn you would lean the machine in the direction you want to turn.

that would not work. To turn a motor cycle you push the handlebars in the OPPOSITE direction from what you want to go, and the precession effect of the front wheel (acting as a gyroscope) cause the wheel to preceed at a 90° angle to that force, making the motorcycle lean into the turn. Many people make this mistake when they first ride a motorcycle, thinking you turn the handlebars the direction you want to go, and the first bend in the road they come to at a high speed, they go right off the road.

In fact, now that I think of it, once you got this thing up to speed, it would be very difficult to make it turn. It might be impossible.

Alexander McGee 08-10-2003 10:29

Quote:

Originally posted by KenWittlief
To turn a motor cycle you push the handlebars in the OPPOSITE direction from what you want to go...Many people make this mistake when they first ride a motorcycle, thinking you turn the handlebars the direction you want to go, and the first bend in the road they come to at a high speed, they go right off the road.
What? :ahh:

Have you ever driven a motorcycle? I am quite sure that to turn a motor cycle to the left, you lean to the left, or turn the handles in a counter clockwise fashon, or leftward motion.

Just wanted to clear this up, no one should go away thinking the wrong thing. Else you might get into an accident if you ever happen to try it.

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 11:20

yes, I have owned two motorcycles, and the first time I road one on the street I almost did exactly what I talked about, came to a curve and tried to turn the handlebar towards the direction I wanted to go, and the bike started going the other way.

Try it with a bicycle - hang the bike in your garage by the top bar, get the front wheel spinning fast, then turn the handlebars to the right. The bike will lean to the left.

You dont notice this so much on a bike and you tend to steer a bike by shifting your weight, the wheels do not have enough gyroscopic force to stop you from leaning it

but on a motorcycle, going fast, you would have to lean way over to make the cycle over-ride the gyroscopic force of those big heavy tires.

its much easier to give the handlebars a slight push in the 'wrong' direction, the bike will lean right over the way you want it to.

BTW, I think this might be part of the reason it takes a while to learn to ride a bike. If you try to steer it like a car, you will fall over.

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 15:57

if you search the web on this motorcycle steering thing you will find plenty of sites that talk about it - they call it countersteering.

Some of them dont understand the physics behind it - but some do:

http://newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/ask...ysics/PHY3.HTM

BTW, after thinking about this, if you did lean your weight to the right the uni-wheel would preceed to the right, and turn right - but it would be very awkward to do, esp at high speeds.

Ryan Dognaux 08-10-2003 16:03

This thing seems kinda .. I dunno... I like the Segway more lol. The difference between this Bombardier thing and the Segway is one thing - the Segway was created to meet a pedestrian transportational need. This new thing just seems like it's being made as a recreational vehicle since the company that's manking it also makes ATVs and other things of the sort.

There will always be the original... :)

KenWittlief 08-10-2003 16:08

ummm. there will ONLY be the original.

Kamen has patents on the segway, the concept cant be copied, even if you reduce the number of wheels, his patent still applies.


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