My god, is this a next century segway?

Question

You gotta see this. This is a reverse pendulum one wheel motorcycle design by a Canadian team. Unlike the Segway it does not cost 100 million to develop. `The gyroscopes are enough to balance the Embrio, the vehicle is also kept longitudinally stable by a smaller wheel that operates like an airplane's landing gear. It touches the ground when the vehicle is stopped or just starting. Once the Embrio is in motion, the landing gear will retract when the vehicle reaches about 12 mph. During braking, the gear redeploys when the vehicle slows to 12 mph.` Unlike the Segway, in order to stop the Segway has to go slightly faster. Do you think this will ever sell? Here take a look.

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Mike Halloran · Accepted Answer

The photo appears to be of a non- working model.

Note especially the subtle transition from present to future tense, and inclusion of the word 'concept' in lower case adjacent the product name.

I.e., "... it _would_ ..." work this way, emphasis mine.

It would, when pigs would fly.

-Mike-

dlzc1.cox · Answer

Dear Mike Halloran:Like this:URL: this one (which takes a while to load...):URL: A. Smith

Ricky Spartacus · Answer

You right it did say "concept" and `no working model yet.`  I can'tbeleive someone would say that pigs can fly when they think pigsshould fly based on prior technology or acheivements. E.g. the Segawayworks, so can the Embrio they say. Does this mean they don't havepatent rights? I assume you need a working model to file a patent.

Mike Halloran · Answer

No, you haven't needed a working model to file a patent for a long time. I think it was a decade ago that the USPTO auctioned off what they could, and discarded the remainder, of their accumulated patent model collection.

Okay, it _could_ 'work', in the sense that you could build something like it, and it could be pseudo- stable, given enough computers and enough gyroscopes and enough training wheels, and you could ride it around a parking lot. Riding it in traffic, or into an average metropolitan pothole, would be suicidal, as with the Segway.

My annoyance was directed toward the breathless prose of the press release, that tries so hard to give the impression that it's a fait accompli, and tosses in gratuitous buzzphrases like "hydrogen fuel cell" power for good measure, when it's a _very_ long way from production, and a _much_ longer way from commercial success.

-Mike-

Dan Bollinger · Answer

The design statement says it all: "This project was conceived as an exercise in forward thinking: what will the future of recreational transportation be like?"

And, I think something like this will be more likely built in this century and not the next. 2100 is a loooong ways away! Will it sell? Let's see, looks cool, goes fast. Yep, it will sell. :)

Dan Bollinger · Answer

Not since about 1920.You can be sure it is a model. Dan

aarontan.spark · Answer

Hi Guys, If you need to shop around more, just go to Aaron

My god, is this a next century segway?

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