The Incredible Being Of Lightness

[Segwaiian]

We periodically have threads inquiring about the upper limits of Segwayedness. The most recent one, and the celebrity thread, in which Diesel-sized gliders are OK prompts the opposite question:

How light can a glider be and still safely operate a Segway?

I wish to exclude the issues of age, helmets, and operator proficiency from this discussion, please. ;) My question is purely about the 100-pound lower weight limit advised by Inc.

I remember Nicky posting in a previous thread that his seven-year-olds are able to glide. I don't remember how much I weighed when I was seven, but it had to be way under 7 stone. :)

Aloha,
Roger

[DaveA]

I don't normally let kids ride, but couldn't say "no" to my 70-pound niece. She had problems stopping -- couldn't shift enough weight back!

[SegwayDan]

Same with my 5-year-old grandson. He also had to reach UP for the handles even at their lowest setting. Way too awkward.

They're also not cognitively mature enough to glide solo on their own in public, of course.

[Skinnee D]

I showed my wife's nephew how to glide in our garage. He is 5 yrs old and weighs a little over 40 lbs. I used the black key with him and a few things I noticed were - he wasn't able to shift weight back far enough; slower reaction time going forward, backward and turning (it was his first time...); the bars were right at his shoulders, lowered all the way down and no concept of varying the speed-he knows you lean to go forward and back but didn't quite get the farther(or less) you lean the faster(slower) you go. But for a 5 yr. old did well.

[nora k]

observations:

if you're under a hundred pounds you need extra time to make a controlled stop, the same as if you're tipping the scales near 300. you have to weigh as much as the machine does in order to stop it "properly."

i had this (very understanding) woman show up for a tour and have to sit it out because she just was not able to bring the machine to a full stop without assistance.

[jgrohol]

On an Gen 1 machine (Gen 2s might be different), I've had one of my 45 lb nephews on the machine (under close supervision of course). It seemed to operate without an issue.

The biggest concern is that the platform sensors won't detect a person is actually on the machine (maybe not so much because of the weight, but the tiny surface area of a small child's foot versus an adult's). If no one is on the unit as far as the Segway is concerned, it can act in unexpected ways.

Be extremely careful while having light-weight or small people ride a Segway. And for safety's sake, make sure they're wearing a helmet. :)

John

[Segwaiian]

That's a "Thank you, very much!", in Hawaiian, for the input. :D:D:D

I've been planning to offer demos, and I know children will want to try my i2. We also have a lot of tiny people in Hawaii.

After reading the posts to this thread, my approach will be to have light gliders step onto the platform as I steady the LSF. If their feet are long enough for the Rider Detect Sensors to register that someone's on and they're heavy enough for the Segway to go into Balance Mode, we're good to go.

Of course, I'll hold the Infokey, keep the i2 in Turtle mode, and only allow minors on wearing helmets.

Aloha,
Roger