12.0 experiences

[toybuilder]

This is my own observations of changes with 12.0. I'm sure others will chime in with their own... These are based on my best recollections, and some of the details (like the exact state of the smiley face) may be a bit off. But this is as I remember it now...

Difference #1 - The Segway will let you know when you're being aggressive.
Even when the battery is at full power, if you were to do a really sudden acceleration, the Segway will perform a momentary stick shake to remind you to ease off. The two ways I've consistently made it do this is 1) to do a snap-twist (pivot very quickly on one foot), and 2) by "ooomphing" forward while already travelling at 8+ mph.

Difference #2 - The Segway initiates speed-limiter when you're gliding effort is a bit heavy for existing battery level.
When I was blinking my last bar, I detoured off the concrete and glided on a stretch of grass to bypass some folks on the sidewalk. In the past, I would have been able to sustain full speed on the bumpy grass. But this time, the speed limiter kicked in and slowed me down to about 5 mph (maybe even slower).

Difference #3 - The Segway initiates a speed-limiter when you're gliding near empty.
In the past, I could continue to glide at full speed on the blinking-red-but-still-smiling level, and keep doing so until I entered safety shutdown. Instead, it initiated the speed limiter during that last stretch of battery.


Now, there are also some things that didn't seem to change:

Sameness #1 - Gliding distance unchanged.
The total gliding range seems to be the same before and after the upgrade. So far, the the battery gauge dips have been comparable to what I've seen in the past.

Sameness #2 - Overall gliding feel is unchanged.
Except for the momentary warning described above (difference #1), the Segway continued to glide the same.

Sameness #3 - Firmware 11.0 features operate the same.
For people coming from firmware 10.0, you'll notice a new e-leash behavior and the new rider-detect safety slow down. But since I was already on 11.0, there was no functionality change going to 12.0


I think the best overall change is the first one -- that the Segway will let you know when you're being overly aggressive. It's a very good reminder that you should ease up.

http://www.pasadenasegway.org/

[pt]

that has been my experience, nice report.

cheers,
pt

[toybuilder]

BTW, subjectively speaking, there's a little bit of an analog between each of the new behaviors to when one drives a car...

Difference #1 feels like chirping the tires from aggressive driving.
Difference #2 feels like the car stumbling a bit when you're low on fuel and you're being aggressive.
Difference #3 feels like the car sputtering to a stop when you are out of fuel.

Not exactly the same, but it psychologically feels this way to me...



http://www.pasadenasegway.org/

[Sal]

Great post Toybuilder! But I still get the feeling that the limiter initiates at a lower speed for some reason. I have ordered the Timex Speed+ distance watch, so I will test my theory.

-Sal

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[Cruzan Glider]

Toybuilder,

Thanks for the excellent report. I anticipate my 12.0 ungrade in about 3 weeks when Decision 1 makes it's way to central Ohio. Your report gives me relief that the gliding characteristics that I have come to expect will not be changing.

Mike

[8] Bringing the future of transportation to central Ohio

[Chapinville]

I was thinking on passin on the upgrade for loss of distance reasons... I'm glad to hear no one has seen any!

[mzokc]

I noticed getting a straight face and slow down on 11.0 compared with 10.0 when traveling up a major hill in Park City, UT the other day. I glided up those hills in July a lot faster, so perhaps some of the battery conserving warnings were added to 11.0 as well.

Anyway, I can no longer say, "It will glide up hills at 12.5 mph!" A gentle hill is still ok, but if it's steep, the speed is lower.

Mark

[EricNR]

I have one hill near home that, when climbing, causes my seg to go from smiling to even tempered (not unhappy but not smiling, just a straight mouth) After reading mzokc's post i'm thinking of not doing the upgrade as it might well give me more feedback than i want on that hill. I have 11.0 and i've had no other problems with my seg. Any thoughts?

[toybuilder]

I suspect the Segway slowed you down on the steep hill because the battery was starting to be the low side. I was on a 10 degree (17%) slope near my parents' home last weekend and was going full speed -- but my battery was also fully charged at the time.

On the hills of my neighborhood (3 degrees - 5%), I haven't noticed any difference, even when the battery is on the lowish side. I'm sure I'll hit the low-battery speed-limiter someday, but only when it really is low and needs to slow you down to establish sufficient operating headroom.

http://www.pasadenasegway.org/

[toybuilder]

I just came back from an 8.34 miles trip, mostly at around 6 mph. The last 3/4 miles or so is a 3% hill climb, and the battery was between 2 and 1 bars during most of the way up. Toward the end, it was down to 1.5 and 1 bars until I maintained near full speed (10 to 12 mph). After about 200 feet of that, my Segway declared a low battery condition and went into safety shutdown. When I turned it back on after only 10 seconds or so, it was already back to showing 1.5 bars.

Now, mind you, Pasadena (particularly where I glide) has lots of slopes, mostly minimal, but some are significant. And the battery profile I had today was very similar to what I remember from taking a very similar trip with the 10.0 firmware when my Segway was less than a month old.


http://www.pasadenasegway.org/

[stevew]

I live up a 300' hill, with about 1/2 mile to get back to sea level. I've always gotten neutral face when climbing this hill, and with full load of groceries in my backpack I have always been speed limited down to 4-6 MPH. Other times with no cargo I'll get 8-10 MPH. I think the HT is keeping very careful track of balancing headroom, and there will be substantially less when climbing with a full load, and in my case a 220lb rider. Haven't found 12.0 anymore restrictive than 10.0 or 11.0, but I've yet to climb this hill on a near empty charge.