A Toyota employee displays a Winglet prototype at the company's showroom in Tokyo. She is riding the medium-size scooter.
(Credit: AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)Toyota Motor on Friday showed off a new stand-up scooter that could one day be seen zipping alongside the Segway on the personal-transporter superhighway.
The "Winglet" has a body the size of an A3 sheet of paper that houses an electric motor, two wheels, and internal sensors that constantly monitor the rider's position and make adjustments in power to ensure stability.
A parallel link mechanism lets riders go forward, backward, and turn by shifting body weight, making the Winglet potentially useful for maneuvering in tight spaces or crowded urban environments.
Riders can cruise around at a leisurely 3.7 mph--not ideal for rushing to a meeting, but nice for scooting around a shopping mall, perhaps. (The Segway, by comparison, can hit 12.5 mph.)
The Winglet comes in small, medium, and large sizes ranging in height from 18 inches to 3 feet 8 inches, with handlebars that also rise to different levels. All three models are about 18 inches wide and 10 inches long. The smallest version weighs 22 pounds, and can be folded and tossed into a (big) bag for optimal shoulder dislocation. All versions of the device take an hour to charge.
No word yet on when we might see commuters atop the contraptions. The company will start testing the vehicle this fall at a Japanese airport and a seaside resort. More testing is planned for 2009 at shopping complexes and other bustling locales.
The Winglet comes in three sizes, which also have different handlebar heights.
(Credit: Toyota Motor)
(Credit:
Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana)
With $4 gas prices looking like a permanent fact of life, consumer interest in jetpacks and other forms of personal air transport might soon go from whimsy to reality. That seems to be driving the engineers at Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana, whose latest project is the "Libelula Rocket Helicopter."
Don't laugh. This may look like something from a '50s sci-fi movie, but its creators have already produced a "Rocket Belt" built to custom specifications. The personal chopper could be also be more reliable than its full-size counterparts because, Dvice says, "by using tiny rocket motors at the tips of the rotor blades, the Libelula eliminates the torque which makes a tail rotor necessary in a conventional helicopter."
There are other potential advantages over the jetpacks we've seen, including price. We assume that the Libelula will be at least a tad cheaper than the Rocket Belt, which goes for $250,000--that's crazy money to pay for anything, let alone something that can fly for only 30 seconds at a time. Then again, the way prices at the pump are going, it might be worth another look.
Apparently the people behind the Segway are finally starting to listen to the incessant mocking of the personal transporter as the ultimate in dorkdom. The evidence: It's preparing to debut a new RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform) at the RoboBusiness conference that looks more appropriate for a desert battlefield than a paved sidewalk.
It's a far more macho version of the first RMP released more than a year ago, which was developed for use by robots. The new model--which could cost as much as $50,000--can carry up to 400 pounds, according to MAKE, and has omnidirectional wheels for ultimate maneuverability (as long as doesn't have the same flaws found in the original, that is.)
We don't know why it so long for them to come up with this idea. After all, the "Tri-Clops Mutant" has been doing this for ages.
(Credit:
Armchair Cruisers)
Sure, we can see some advantages to luxury travel like that envisioned in Boeing's latest VIP binge. But we really hate flying, in case you hadn't noticed, and would much prefer to travel by terra firma, or as much of it that West Coast seismology will allow.
So imagine our barely containable excitement upon seeing the "Armchair Cruiser," the ultimate in personal vehicles. These are no makeshift Barcaloungers on skateboard wheels--check out the photos of the latest "Rumble Bee" model to witness the care in craftsmanship, which explains the price range of $3,995 for a solor-seater to a $7,995 for the "gas-powered V-twin love seat."
"The chairs operate on a simple joystick system, which controls direction, speed and lets you turn on a dime," Gizmag says. The brakes are automatically applied when the stick returns to the middle, and automatically released when you're ready for more action."
We just hope owners will restrain themselves and not order some of the "bling" kits available. No word on top speeds, but we bet they'll still be able to beat Caroline McCarthy's motorized bathtub. Check out the video below for proof.
(Credit:
3yen)
Like so many people, we seem to have a Segway fixation. And, as with so many people, it makes absolutely no sense. Then again, abormal fixations rarely do.
In an effort to broaden our horizons, this item is not about a Segway. It's about a Segway competitor, thank you very much. Gizmowatch says Toshiba has entered the personal transport market with a fuel cell-powered scooter.
Details are scant to none, but we do know that this potential Segway rival is a sociable little critter: It sports LED lights that are apparently designed to communicate with other Toshiba transporters for navigation and "anti-collision" purposes. That may be a bit premature, however, given that Segways and other "personal commute vehicles" are banned at present in Japan. So we needn't worry about running into Gob--or whoever bought his Segway--anytime soon there.
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