segway idea

[Rallispec]

inspired from what fobot and dapunisher said in this thread


suppose somehow, using the technology of the segway-- they developed a segway that was more bicycle-ish in nature-- instead of a stand up scooter.. would you be more likely to use it?

 

[Wallydraigle]

More likely to use the new thing than a Segway, yes.

More likely to use the new thing than not, no.

 

[yakko]

I would just keep my bicycles and use them.

 

[LaBang]

no. they already have electric bicycles. I'd much prefer the small footprint on the scooter too.

what is the advantage to the bicycle?

 

[Rallispec]

what is the advantage to the bicycle?

non.. other than that it is a common design we are all familiar with.. and you might not stand out as much as you would on a segway.

 

[Cyberian]

what is the advantage to the bicycle?

Right now, price is a big advantage.

 

[MacBaine]

The thing is, the technology couldn't really be applied to a bicycle design. The "not-fall-over" part wouldn't really work at all.

 

[CasioTech]

first off, no one wants to hear a stupid idea to an already stupid product.....




here's an idea, make a seat for the segway, either lazy or disabled people will use those, and they probably don't feel like standing, so they can sit, then again, that will get in the way of going and stopping wouldn't it.....

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
inspired from what fobot and dapunisher said in this thread


suppose somehow, using the technology of the segway-- they developed a segway that was more bicycle-ish in nature-- instead of a stand up scooter.. would you be more likely to use it?

no. I'd rather stick a small 50cc motor or so on my bike, I'd go much faster than a segway and much farther too. Segways are a niche market. I can't see them ever becoming mainstream.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
The thing is, the technology couldn't really be applied to a bicycle design. The "not-fall-over" part wouldn't really work at all.

yeah.. i thought about this-- i'm sure with some design tweaking it could work-- my thought was something on the bike.. like a weight or something that could be moved slightly to the left or right to maintain the right center of balance and keep the bike upright.... and then the same motor for movement.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
The thing is, the technology couldn't really be applied to a bicycle design. The "not-fall-over" part wouldn't really work at all.

While it may not use the same technology as the segway I gaurantee that if the inventor of the segway had this idea, he could make it work. What you fail to realize is he has come up with many innovative inventions in the past, I don't doubt for a second that this could be acheived. now onto the original question: I don't think that I would use it if it was a scooter, or a bike. It is a great idea, very cool, and would make a good TOY, but for 11 grand? I can buy a Kia for 11 grand and take off two of the wheels, bam brand new slightly more powerful segway. As for the bicycle idea, I only bike for excercise and entertainment, I would not enjoy simply riding on a weak powered bicycle.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: MacBaine
The thing is, the technology couldn't really be applied to a bicycle design. The "not-fall-over" part wouldn't really work at all.

yeah.. i thought about this-- i'm sure with some design tweaking it could work-- my thought was something on the bike.. like a weight or something that could be moved slightly to the left or right to maintain the right center of balance and keep the bike upright.... and then the same motor for movement.

Why do you need that BS on a bike? The human body does a fine job of balancing on a bike - and the faster you go the more stable the bike becomes. I only have trouble balancing on a bike at the point where the wheels are about to stop turning. You don't need crap like segways to have "natural" balancing, bikes already do it! And without machines helping you. Now add a motor to a bike to let you go farther and faster and you have a vehicle that will beat the crap out of a segway in costs, distance, AND speed.

 

[Rallispec]

well.. true.

the point of this thread though is just that the segway-- while a great idea, is - for the most part - impratictical for everyday use in our society.

i was just thinking that possibly it could be redesigned into something that would fit into our daily lives better.

 

[Orsorum]

At first, I was going to reply, shouldn't it be segue?

 

[Nefrodite]

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: MacBaine
The thing is, the technology couldn't really be applied to a bicycle design. The "not-fall-over" part wouldn't really work at all.

While it may not use the same technology as the segway I gaurantee that if the inventor of the segway had this idea, he could make it work. What you fail to realize is he has come up with many innovative inventions in the past, I don't doubt for a second that this could be acheived. now onto the original question: I don't think that I would use it if it was a scooter, or a bike. It is a great idea, very cool, and would make a good TOY, but for 11 grand? I can buy a Kia for 11 grand and take off two of the wheels, bam brand new slightly more powerful segway. As for the bicycle idea, I only bike for excercise and entertainment, I would not enjoy simply riding on a weak powered bicycle.

but how could you garrantee balance on a bike? directional thrusters? unless you have training wheels its kinda iffy.

 

[Rallispec]

there are few ways it could be done-- like ultima said: the natural spinning of the wheels causes the bike to stay upright-- so possibly some sort of gyroscopic type wheel that spun really fast attached to the bike would keep it from falling over--
or maybe some sytem that could shift the angle of the wheels or use another method to move the center of balance for the bike.

 

[Nefrodite]

the point of the segway is that its control is so intuitive you don't really have to learn much to use it. no matter how feeble you are.


there are few ways it could be done-- like ultima said: the natural spinning of the wheels causes the bike to stay upright-- so possibly some sort of gyroscopic type wheel that spun really fast attached to the bike would keep it from falling over--
or maybe some sytem that could shift the angle of the wheels or use another method to move the center of balance for the bike.



i have doubts how really stable a gyroscope would make a bike. would you make the grip the accelerator? its not exactly as easy as leaning forward on a segway. not to mention how much space a bike takes up. just not practical.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Nefrodite
the point of the segway is that its control is so intuitive you don't really have to learn much to use it. no matter how feeble you are.

what if that ease of use what in a bike type design. no need to peddle. it could sense shifts of weight in your seat to tell if you wanted to move forward or reverse, left or right, or brake (like with the segway) no matter how slow you went, no tipping.. yet a design more apt for higher speeds and better control should you need it.


the hardest part would be getting onto the bike.. once on.. a toddler could ride it-- no need for training wheels.

 

[Mill]

first off, no one wants to hear a stupid idea to an already stupid product.....

first off no one wants a dipsh!t like you on these forum. Go somewhere else asshole.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
there are few ways it could be done-- like ultima said: the natural spinning of the wheels causes the bike to stay upright-- so possibly some sort of gyroscopic type wheel that spun really fast attached to the bike would keep it from falling over--
or maybe some sytem that could shift the angle of the wheels or use another method to move the center of balance for the bike.

That same gyroscope would have to be able to brake very fast in order to make big-angle turns at moderate speeds, or else you wouldn't be able to turn. I think this is all a waste of resources, you don't need this stuff on a bike. I'd rather see many more motorized bicycles... I bet many, many people (like say, college students) would rather own a cheap motorized bike than a car, insurance for the car, gas for the car, etc etc, when they really don't need it. I know I would. However, there's not really many options and the ones that are are expensive and slow (12-15mph). So I'd rather get a cheap car.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: Nefrodite
the point of the segway is that its control is so intuitive you don't really have to learn much to use it. no matter how feeble you are.

what if that ease of use what in a bike type design. no need to peddle. it could sense shifts of weight in your seat to tell if you wanted to move forward or reverse, left or right, or brake (like with the segway) no matter how slow you went, no tipping.. yet a design more apt for higher speeds and better control should you need it.


the hardest part would be getting onto the bike.. once on.. a toddler could ride it-- no need for training wheels.

whether peddling or not, you don't need a balancing system on a bike. You already subconsciously do all these things to control the bike. It's pretty much impossible to fall off a bike unless you hit debris (balancing wouldn't help you here), you turn way too sharply for your speed (wouldn't help you here either - can't counteract physics), and so on. This "balancing" system would just upset your natural sense of balance and make it weird to bike. Oh, I never needed training wheels . In fact, I think training wheels would slow down the process of learning how to balance yourself on a bicycle - and in some cases the person may never completly master it.
Now, one application that would make sense is for it to balance the bike when it is moving slowly or not at all. This would give you more control at lower speeds where the gyroscopic effects of the wheel don't help out much. Again though, it seems a waste of resources to me. The power should go into speed and distance making the bike much more practical than a segway could ever be.

Think about it: If you had a bicycle that could reach 35mph and keep that speed for 10 miles, then why on earth would you ever take your car to do little things like go to the bank or pick up a bag of milk?? You could let the car rest for those times when the bike wasn't practical (bad weather, winter, etc) and save thousands in gas and repair costs. If I had such a bike and also had a car I'd never use the car except on weekends to have fun with my friends.

 

[Nefrodite]

well no matter what, a bikes going to be more dangerous. instead of having a person in an upright natural position you are up straddling a contraption. with the segway you could step off, jump off or roll away, or at the very least not get tangled up with your machine in a crash or tip. with a bike you slip off the seat and your crotch generally meets a hard metal pipe and you are in a world of pain, then since you get tangled up with your bike as you fall.. a mess

bikes footprint is already larger then the segway, imagine it after a propulsion system/gyro/battery. oh man

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Nefrodite
well no matter what, a bikes going to be more dangerous. instead of having a person in an upright natural position you are up straddling a contraption. with the segway you could step off, jump off or roll away, or at the very least not get tangled up with your machine in a crash or tip. with a bike you slip off the seat and your crotch generally meets a hard metal pipe and you are in a world of pain, then since you get tangled up with your bike as you fall.. a mess

bikes footprint is already larger then the segway, imagine it after a propulsion system/gyro/battery. oh man

It might be a bit wider after adding a motor and battery but it wouldn't be longer.
Yes, a bike would be more dangerous if you crash at higher speeds but at the speeds of a segway I don't see how so. If you hit a wall in a segway and if you hit a wall in a bike you're going to get hurt either way. Except at least with the bike you have your front wheel to absorb some of the impact. With the segway your face would slam right into the wall.

Now, at higher speeds you're basically screwed on a bike, it is just a bike after all I don't believe that segways are any safer though. Some of the hype was that if a segway hit someone at max speed the person would barely feel it. What's the max speed on a segway, 20km/h? If I hit someone doing 20km/h they'll feel it all right. Whether on a bike or a segway. THe difference is that I wouldn't be on the sidewalk with my bike, so that's not as much of an issue

 

[Phunktion]

Did anyone think of this? Didn't read all the thread.. by why not take a car tire and make a unicycle segway Now that would r0X0r j00

Oh BTW if you ever watched ducktales.. it'd sorta look like Gizmo duck LOL

 

[MacBaine]

While it may not use the same technology as the segway I gaurantee that if the inventor of the segway had this idea, he could make it work. What you fail to realize is he has come up with many innovative inventions in the past, I don't doubt for a second that this could be acheived.

Oh I am in no way doubting that the guy could do anything, I am just saying, the design of the scooter is that you can lean foreward or backward and it won't fall over. The tires on a bike are one in front of the other, so leaning foreward/backward isn't an issue.

You are all still failing to realize that this invention is just to showcase the technology. It is like the Write Bros. plane... it sure did suck, but look what we have today. Just wait a decade or so and we will see all sorts of applications.