PLS comment on my new feature idea for segway~^.^

[jackysheep]

I'm a high school student and conducting a project about the
new feature in segway~

As i know that you are very famous and well known about segway
So , would you mind spend a few mins to read and give us some comment on it~
there are totally 4 new feature

-CFS (Collision-Free System)
-Avoid accident of the Segway
-Infra-red
-Detect the object in front
-Alarm rider
-Avoid collision
-Detect crowd in front
-Slow down the speed automatically

-Folded Segway
-Solve the parking problem
-Folded Segway
-Same as the idea of folded bicycle
-Different part is connect by
-some movable joint
-Made by lighter material
-Reduce weight to ~10 pounds
-Carry on the back

-Tracked wheel
-Solve the different road condition problem
-Tracked wheel
-Just like the tank #61664;
-Suit different road condition
e.g muddy road, hill road, staircase
-Balancing problem?
-Movable platform
-Horizontal platform when climbing slope

-Embedded with Urban Positioning System (UPS)

what do you think about it ?
is it possible to do so ?
Or you have other new ideas?

[Ground Loop]

I think you'll find that most folks here are pretty unreceptive to any suggestions to modify the Segway behavior.. "If Segway LLC didn't do it that, they must have their reasons!" :-)
But you know what they say "If it ain't broke.. let me have a look at it."

Your Collision-Free System sounds like a no-go. There are many times in normal Segway use where you will ride right up to an "object in front", like a door. I don't want the HT fighting me about it. Same for riding in crowds. It's the rider's responsibility to control the speed. If you ask around, I think you'll find that almost NO accidents involve running into things. It's a non-problem.

A Folded segway, even at 75lbs is going to be a hefty load on the back. Most people prefer to ride it than carry it. Parking is for when it's too big/bulky/intrusive to bring inside, and a huge backpack probably wouldn't be welcomed either. Like a restaurant -- if you can't park your HT near the table, you probably can't bring in a folded one either. But hey, maybe for climbing stairs or packing in the trunk or something.

Tracked wheels -- This makes no sense, if you think about it. Tracks are useful only when you have one wheel in front of the other.. the tracks form a "track" for the wheels to ride in. With only ONE wheel on each side, what would the track look like? You would have to turn each wheel into a triple-wheel triangle with a track wrapped around, and then the whole balancing thing isn't as useful. For traction on mud, we have Zorba's studded tires available. Besides, would you let someone with metal tracks ride around inside your house or business? Rubber tires already bring in enough mud.

I'm going to take a wild guess that you haven't ridden a Segway much.. it's really not prone to some of the problems you describe. If you can, find someone to give you a demo and see what ideas come of it. It's really an amazingly simple machine that does well. No harm in brainstorming, but it should be informed, right?

I have no idea what an "Urban Positioning System (UPS)" is, but it sounds cool.

[Stewbonz]

I think when there are millions of Segways zooming around a collision avoidance system would be a great option.
A lighter less robust Segway that folds up would be good for some I suppose.
Track type system may help with the curbs or maybe climb stairs.
Good ideas. Over to you.

JEFF JARVIS
http://www.thailandsegwaytours.com/

[dhugger]

The CFS & tracked wheels are really not needed at all. They would probably cause more problems than they would fix. As for a folding Segway, it would be nice, but again not needed. For ~$35, you can buy a quick release bolt, which allows you to remove the entire control shaft without tools in about 10 seconds. As for reducing the Segway to 10 lbs, that is basically impossible. The motors weigh ~3 lbs each and the batteries are each about 10 lbs. Throw in the weight of some strong metals in the gearboxes and the HT's frame, along with 8 lb tires and you're right around 80 lbs. For the strength and durablity of the HT, it's amazing it's as light as it is. It is possible, though I wouldn't advise people to ride down stairs (see my video http://pubpages.unh.edu/~dhugger/ExtremeSeg.mov). Going up stairs while ring is not possible with the way the HT is built. For that, go for an iBot. Also, when climing a slope, the platform does stay horizontal, in fact, it ALWAYS stays horizontal with a rider on it. That's the amazing thing about the Segway, no throttle, no brakes... and it always manages to stay perfectly level with you on it. Also, the Segway WILL slow down automatically if needed. If it senses uneven terrain, too much power draw, hot batteries, etc, it will push you back with the speed limiter. You've got some creative ideas, but before trying to improve on it, try riding the HT first ;)

http://segwaychat.com/photos/dhugger/dhugger2.gif

[Guest]

Welcome to SC!!!!
I deff like the idea of a folding seg... Other than a shipping case, an east way to ship a partially-deconstructed Segway.

[ions82]

Folding = more moving parts (parts to break), less "solid" feel... I think the "p" is about as small as it can get.