Honda has developed a very interesting motorized personal transportation device. It seems to be a cross between a unicycle, a Segway, and an ASIMO. It has omni-directional driving wheel system which means t can move forward and backwards and sideways too. Moving forward is as easy as leaning forward and steering left or right goes automatically as you lean left or right.
I loved the concept of the Segway but could never get used to the steering wheel. I have been riding a bicycle since I was 6 so I’m used to my bike going to the right when I turn the wheel. The steering wheel of the Segway always stays the same, even when you turn a corner. It doesn’t feel natural at all. Even though every Segway owner tells me it is.
The device is not for sale though and Honda is currently doing “experiments in a real-world environment to verify the practicality of the device” which is corporate speak for “got it to work long enough to make this video but is useless for anything else”.
Still, I love the concept. If they can get this working I imagine it being only a few years away until we can buy a working hoverboard.
Surely you don’t ‘turn’ the handlebars on a bike either? In both cases (bike + Segway) you’d still be leaning.
looks terrible
I like this one also http://www.dutchcowboys.nl/gadgets/17913
No you are wrong. On a segway you lean forward to move forward and backwards to stop. There is a little slider wheel on the Segway’s steering wheel that you turn to go left or right. The wheel itself is fixed. Moving your weight doesn’t steer the bike but if you don’t lean into the curve you WILL fall off.
What you describe is correct for an earlier version of the Segway. The current model has LeanSteer, which pretty much does what you’d expect; it’s far more intuitive than the earlier model.
Sounds good. I will take another test drive then!
Very cool. Blogged about it here: http://thenextweb.com/2009/09/29/segway-ux3-yike/