Researchers in Japan are developing robotic roller skates as a new form of personal mobility.
(Credit:
Tim Hornyak)
Toshinobu Takei of Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) demonstrated his "Unit-type Micro-Mobility" device at the 2009 International Robot Exhibition (iRex) in Tokyo this week.
We haven't seen too many gadgets like these, but what with the plethora of prototype personal vehicles like Honda's U3-X unicycle in Japan lately, they aren't surprising.
The prototype skates are actually mechatronic versions of "takeuma," which are old-school bamboo stilts that kids used to play with in Japan before their lives were consumed by cell phones and video games.
The aluminum skates move automatically when the user leans forward, but the attached poles must also be grasped. Users can roll or step forward with them.
Each skate contains a wheel, three accelerometers, and gyroscopes, and weighs about 11 pounds, according to Takei, part of AIST's Field Robotics Research Group.
Top speed is about 2.5 mph.
Takei said the skates are still in development, but added they are less bulky than a Segway.
Could they spark a new roller disco boom? Everyone would dance The Robot, of course.
The PUMA speeds along the floor of the New York auto show.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Buzzing around the floor of the 2009 New York auto show, is the PUMA--the result of a collaboration between Segway and GM. We had a chance to ride in the vehicle, an electric-powered two seater. PUMA stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, and works on similar principles as the Segway Personal Transporter. Where on the Personal Transporter, you lean forward to make it go, the PUMA's steering column has to be pushed, which causes the entire cab to slide to the front and move weight forward, making the PUMA go.
Push the steering wheel forward, and the whole cabin shifts.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)The driver of the PUMA cautioned us to keep our legs loose--as the cabin shifted--and then we were off. The vehicle picked up a good amount of speed until the driver pulled back on the wheel, shifting our weight again and slowing it down. It was hard to believe we were traveling on two wheels, as it felt very balanced. (There are auxiliary wheels, with two on the rear for safety and two in front to support the PUMA when it is stopped.)
Turning was very smooth: as the driver turned the little wheel, power diverted to the outside wheel, letting the PUMA turn almost on a dime. Coming to a stop felt like the end of a roller coaster ride, as the PUMA leaned forward sharply and the cabin shifted again. A Segway representative came over and lifted up a safety bar.
Toyota showed off the i-Real at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.
(Credit: CNET)The PUMA is supposed to go up to 35 mph, with a range of 35 miles. A Segway representative told us that, after a full day of demonstration rides, the battery was only half-drained. The PUMA weighs 400 pounds, but is a very early model, with a second generation due to come out in the fall. GM initially approached Segway about the collaboration 18 months ago, but the PUMA on display was developed and built at the Segway plant in only 90 days.
GM isn't the first car company to develop a personal mobility vehicle. Japanese car companies have been at it for a long time. During the 2007 Tokyo auto show, we saw examples from both Toyota and Suzuki.
(Credit:
Segway)
Segway, the manufacturer of the scooter-like device that was supposed to change the world, is losing an early employee. Doug Field, the company's chief technology officer, is leaving the company to become a vice president of product design at Apple.
The announcement was made through a post on the Segway Chat forums by John Grohol, Segway's former "Web architect" who continues to help run Segway Chat.
"Doug has been the driving force in making the Segway what it is today and will be sorely missed at the company," Grohol wrote. "However, with every change comes good and bad. So while it's bad the rich history and experience of Doug is leaving, it's good in that perhaps the team will get a fresh perspective into possible engineering solutions for future versions of the Segway."
Official Segway representatives did not return a request for comment.
Meanwhile, after initial disappointment, the Segway keeps chugging--er, gliding--along. The company's latest big customer is the Chinese military, as security ramps up for the summer Olympics in Beijing. Inventor Dean Kamen, meanwhile, continues on his path to create life-changing devices.
This post was updated at 10:41 a.m. PT to correct John Grohol's relationship with Segway.
(Credit:
Segway)
Visitors to this summer's Olympics in Beijing may see a familiar American gadget on the go, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of China.
China's military demonstrated on Tuesday their skills at balancing and shooting while on Segways (Xinhua photo of demo) during a series of drills of anti-terrorist units in Jinan, Shandong Province, according to Xinhua.
The Segway was demonstrated as a useful tool since it allows soldiers, once they are trained in balancing and maneuvering the machine, to keep both hands on their weapon while still accelerating and turning the device with their body movements. In skilled hands, a Segway could be kept still enough to offer a stable position from which to shoot.
While visually amusing, the use is not entirely surprising as Segway proudly touts its Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP) on its Web site and lists all four branches of the U.S. military as clients.
See also: "Photos: Segway rollouts, recalls and pratfalls"
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Coroflot)
We've intimated before that the Segway isn't exactly our cup of tea, but we're frankly afraid of going down that route again for fear of reprisal. So without judgment, we herewith present another item on said machine that seeks to improve upon the design, regardless of how one feels about it.
Designer Sarah Park has drafted a concept that would outfit the famed personal transporter with dual handlebars that Gearfuse describes as a "skiing-like steering mechanism." The size of the handlebars would be similar to those of a baby stroller and navigated in a similar fashion. Given the Segway's history in this department, it might not be a bad idea to consider something like this. We're just not so sure about the description of it being "similar to pushing a stroller and skiing down a slope"--imagery that's reminiscent of the shootout scene in The Untouchables.
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:
Sybarites)
Despite a recent push by human chickens, the Segway still hasn't become the ubiquitous mode of personal transportation that some once envisioned. And somehow it seems that acquiring Ferrari's nameplate won't bring it that much closer to reality.
Yet the racing legend has done just that, which makes us wonder if there's anything it won't put its name on. But hey, more power to them if they can get people to pay $12,000 for a "Segway PT i2 Ferrari Limited Edition," especially because there's apparently no performance advantage over the original (though it does have a leather handlebar, according to Sybarites).
We do, however, give the company some credit for endorsing at least something that's mobile--which is more than we can say for Bugatti's toaster.
The future of electric propulsion...
(Credit: CNET Networks)We're not convinced about the wisdom of this one. GM is using this week's Frankfurt auto show to reiterate its commitment to alternative fuel cars with the unveiling of the Opel Flextreme, a concept plug-in car that builds on the buzz of the E-Flex drive train from the Chevy Volt. The car itself relies on a series hybrid drive train, which combines a lithium-ion powered-electric motor with a biodiesel combustion engine that is used solely for running the electric motor when the battery's charge runs out.
...or the past?
(Credit: CNET Networks)However, as blue-sky as the vehicle's power train may be (lithium-ion batteries have a long way to go before they're ready for production vehicles), that is not the main cause of our concern. What troubles us is the fact that the GM has integrated two Segways into the back of the Flextreme--presumably to highlight its electric-mobility message. Now, we're no marketing mavens, but we suspect that a company trying to promote a fledgling technology would try to avoid association with a device that ended up falling--commercially and physically--flat on its face.
It's not Friday, but we'd like to pretend it is. So here you go: left over from last week's E3 Business and Media Summit, two representatives from Gamecock Media learning how to ride a Segway Human Transporter while wearing makeshift chicken outfits.
It's just really kind of awesome.
With the release of the iPhone, Apple completed what some are calling the most hyped product launch in technology history. Whether or not that's true, there's no doubt that the frenzy has reached epic proportions, with constant articles, photo galleries and commentary in this and countless other publications. But the iPhone is hardly the only tech product to launch with a high hype factor and heavy expectations. Here's a look back at some of the other high-profile launches that got the tech industry talking.
Here, Steve Wozniak, a man who knows something about changing the world, rides the Segway, the product that was supposed to change the world but didn't.
