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History of Dean Kamen's Segway

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Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#11

Post by mattowen_uk »

Many years ago, I did a cross-country Segway-based 'hack[1]'.

After orientation and a bit of balance training the group I was in followed the instructor as we spent a good hour or so travelling down muddy tracks and across country fields.

For my part, I enjoyed the experience, and I could certainly see the appeal of using one off-road[2] and would have happily spent my weekends on one in the countryside. On the road/pavement, they had much less appeal as they were bulky and hard to steer nimbly in crowded areas.

As we know they were an important first step to self-balancing vehicles/robots so we shouldn't judge them too harshly; many initial inventions fail, just to be reborn years later as an improved concept.

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[1] The horse kind, not the keyboard-warrior kind.

[2] These Segways were fitted out with larger off-road tyres compared to the ones you usually see.

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#13

Post by kkwteh »

ralfd wrote: post #8
kkwteh wrote: post #7

While the Segway failed, one of its successors, the electric unicycle, revolutionized how I get around the city. They're more fun than a bicycle or scooter, they have great range, and they're compact enough that you can take them inside wherever you go, which solves the theft problem. The EUC industry is developing rapidly, with large improvements in reliability, performance, and features each year. There's a pretty…

Are they legal to ride in your country? And to you feel safe on it?

I live in Paris. They're legal here with a speed limit of 25 km/h. I feel quite safe on them, maybe even safer than I would on a bicycle. Electric unicycles are smaller than bicycles, which makes it easier to avoid other objects on the road. They're also easier to get off quickly if there's an emergency. You definitely need to pay close attention to what's happening around you though. The one thing that's more dangerous is that if you hit a pothole unexpectedly, you're more likely to fall on an electric unicycle.

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#14

Post by kkwteh »

szszrk wrote: post #9
ralfd wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they legal to ride in your country? And to you feel safe on it?

His safety you are worried about? I feel really unsafe as a pedestrian around those things. These are super fast and small, people love to abuse that and use it to jump between sidewalk and street. Some guys here expect you to run from them on a sidewalk, missing me by inches. It's harded to be that aggressive and dangerous on a bike. I use to be really afraid for my wife when she went out during pregnancy. Assholes…

I make sure that pedestrians feel safe around me. I go slowly on sidewalks, walking speed, when I'm near pedestrians, and give them right of way when they're crossing in front of me. You have plenty of control if you ride at a safe speed, and it's possible to ride safely.

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#15

Post by flemhans »

thatoneguy wrote: post #3

As a 21 year old cable guy in 2001 who had yet to go to university, I wasn't the only one on the web at the time who thought The Invention was some sort of hoverboard-like flying machine or other fantastical device. Waking up early the day of the big reveal only to find out it was a just stupid scooter with a pun-y name was such an incredible let down.

I was sure it was going to be a hoverboard, too.

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#16

Post by pram »

thatoneguy wrote: post #3

As a 21 year old cable guy in 2001 who had yet to go to university, I wasn't the only one on the web at the time who thought The Invention was some sort of hoverboard-like flying machine or other fantastical device. Waking up early the day of the big reveal only to find out it was a just stupid scooter with a pun-y name was such an incredible let down.

I recall they said it would be such a profoundly revolutionary device cities would be designed around it lol

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#17

Post by thesz »

candeira wrote: post #10

I met some of the people working on regulatory advice so Segways could be used in Europe. This would be about 2003 or 2004, at Campus Party in Valencia, Spain. The story they told me is that Segway was going to be successful in the USA as a mobility scooter for the elderly, giving range and speed to people who could not walk or cycle far and fast, while not still requiring a traditional wheelchair. From memory, the s…

Myy friend, being 33 or so, fell out of Segway, fractured his hip, ruptured an artery in it and almost died from internal bleeding. Now he has fun going through airport security scanners.

I do not think it ever can be classified as a mobility device for elderly.

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#19

Post by RhysU »

candeira wrote: post #10

I met some of the people working on regulatory advice so Segways could be used in Europe. This would be about 2003 or 2004, at Campus Party in Valencia, Spain. The story they told me is that Segway was going to be successful in the USA as a mobility scooter for the elderly, giving range and speed to people who could not walk or cycle far and fast, while not still requiring a traditional wheelchair. From memory, the s…

As a summer student in 1999 I saw the Segway's gyroscopic technology evaluated in a stand-up wheelchair form by https://www.herl.pitt.edu/. This research lab sat between the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Veterans Affairs department. The lab still exists.

The wheelchair hit the public as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT. I knew it as "FRED". I have never observed anyone using its equal in terms of mobility capabilities.

As an example of what sort of other stuff HERL did back in the day: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00039...

Re: History of Dean Kamen's Segway

#20

Post by candeira »

RhysU wrote: post #19
candeira wrote: post #10

I met some of the people working on regulatory advice so Segways could be used in Europe. This would be about 2003 or 2004, at Campus Party in Valencia, Spain. The story they told me is that Segway was going to be successful in the USA as a mobility scooter for the elderly, giving range and speed to people who could not walk or cycle far and fast, while not still requiring a traditional wheelchair. From memory, the s…

As a summer student in 1999 I saw the Segway's gyroscopic technology evaluated in a stand-up wheelchair form by https://www.herl.pitt.edu/ . This research lab sat between the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Veterans Affairs department. The lab still exists. The wheelchair hit the public as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT . I knew it as "FRED". I have never observed anyone using its eq…

I saw videos of gyroscopic wheelchairs at the time, and they are as awesome today as I remembered them!

My skepticism was rather about Segway, the product, being useful as a mobility device, and recognised as such by European regulators.

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