Tankus Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Bombardier EmbrioThe riding position will be similar to a motorcycle with a complex series of sensors and gyroscopes balancing passengers on the single wheel. The rider activates a trigger on the left handlebar to accelerate and turns are made by shifting body-weight rather than actually steering. When the EMBRIO concept is at rest in "stand-by configuration", the front wheels deploy to the ground like landing gear on a plane to increase longitudinal stability. The landing gear retracts when the vehicle speed reaches 20 km/h but even without the landing gear, the EMBRIO would be stable when motionless because of the gyroscope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted November 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 out of interest has anybody seen a segway yet ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted November 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Or even a bit Star wars-y-ishThe AirBike concept uses vectored thrust generated by a pair of contra-rotating ducted fans that can be configured to produce forward or backward movement in both vertical and level flight. The rider sits astride the engine and helps control pitch and roll by shifting body weight as when riding a motorcycle. Stability is achieved by positioning the outlet nozzles well above the vehicle's centre of gravity. Instrumentation will include radar, G.P.S. or beacon tracking displays as well as tachometer, fuel gauges, altitude and air/surface speed indicators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 There is a fundamental fault with the whole Segway idea. The "fail" condition is far from safe. The devices rely on powered gyroscopes and sensors to remain stable. In the event of electrical failure, mechanical failure or power loss the Segway device loses all its stability (a one or two legged/wheeled object is positionally unstable) and catastrophic collapse occurs. The result is that unless you dismount from the thing pretty sharpish you end up either flat on your backside or have your face smashed in falling to the ground. This could be especially important in the wheelchair devices that are supposed to be coming along. OK, these may be four wheeled at rest but whilst carrying out manoeuvres such as climbing stairs, as I have seen demonstrated, a failure when at the top could have disastrous results for the user who is not the best able to do anything about it :dontgetit: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Apart from the possibilities poined out by pops, they look good fun to try out just once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Why am I reminded of the Sinclair C5?BTW, you can buy a basic one for $3,995.00 from Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/featu...4296456-7837635 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grim Reaper Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 segways are illegal for public use in the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 future buses will not need bus lanes , they'll just drive over the top( Im not to sure about this one....!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 wow its a lazy mans dream :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted December 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 The wheel chair pops was on about. ($29,000...woof)First time going downstairs looks like a thrillAnd here in colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 As a (sometimes) wheelchair user, it would take an awful lot of persuasion to get me in one of those things. For someone disabled such that they can't walk at all, I would think the prospect of using one of these would fill them with dread.Imagine having it in the two wheel elevated position, or even just going down stairs and there was a power failure in the thing. As I wrote earlier, the fail state is far from safe.I sometimes think the FDA has something amiss in their philosophies - having dealt with them on other matters, I'm fairly sure they have :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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