[design219]

mental_floss Blog : The Uno

It runs on electricity and is controlled by body language. The only controls are an on-off switch. To go forward, you lean forward. Lean further to go faster. Lean back to go backwards. The Uno has two gyros, one to control forward (and backward) motion, the other for turning.

I didn't think a motorcycle could get any more dangerous. Or is it just me? I like that it is electric, however.

[Dakar the Fourth]

*facepalm*

[Eug]

Stupidest? Maybe, but then again all motorcycles are stupid from a safety point of view, and I say this as someone who owned one for a while.

Note that it does have two wheels though.

[ajprice]

Paint it black and call it Batman's Segway.

[- - e r i k - -]

The BATWAY!

[- - e r i k - -]

And on a more serious note: It was about time someone took the segway technology forward from it's current derided "haha-scooter!" point.

[PB2K]

He's humping the 2 legged horse !

[vmarks]

Actually, this is very very cool.

(a) the dude who made it is 18 years old. What were you doing at 18?

(b) probably going to be harder to ride with a passenger, since leaning is going to affect course and speed, and most passengers I've ridden with don't follow the instruction "lean exactly where I lean"

(c) I don't see how this is any more dangerous than a motorcycle at highway speeds - laying a bike down on the side versus endo-ing still means you're on the ground and liable to get run over by whatever traffic is behind you.

(d) I wonder how the DMV would classify it - if it's in the same class as a 50cc scooter, then it can be ridden without any license, tags, or insurance on public roads. (The DMV does this so that people who have lost their license to DUI/DWI offenses can ride scooters to work.)

[Doofy]

Lean further to go faster. Lean back to go backwards.

Oh dear. That's not going to be very quick with the average fat biker chick sitting on the back of it.

[Big Mac]

Since it uses gyros the guy probably got the idea from Mr. Garrison's IT.

[vmarks]

Actually, it's lean backwards to decelerate. Course, you have to be moving forward in order to decelerate. Only from a stop would leaning backwards cause reverse.

Doofy's 'fat chick' on the back just causes you to go slower (both by mass, and by the act of leaning backwards.)

[Eug]

Originally Posted by vmarks 

Doofy's 'fat chick' on the back just causes you to go slower (both by mass, and by the act of leaning backwards.)

Not necessarily. You might just accelerate slower.

[nonhuman]

Depends on how fat she is, and how far forward you can both get.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Not necessarily. You might just accelerate slower.

If one is riding one of those things and one has a fat chick on the back, one has been accelerating pretty slowly for all of one's life.

[Doofy]

OK, puzzled.

On a conventional bike, when you stop your body weight transfers forwards due to the laws of physics and the like. Hence "stoppies". But on this thing, leaning forwards actually accelerates the thing. So, you lean back to try and stop the thing and the sheer act of slowing down makes you lean forwards, which then accelerates the thing. Which throws your body weight backwards, which then tries to stop the thing. Which throws your weight forwards, which then makes it accelerate. Etc., etc..

They really didn't think this one through, did they?

[nonhuman]

I assume it doesn't go fast enough for that to really be a problem. Otherwise the same would be true with segways.

[design219]

So you lean back for brakes? What happens when you are going down a hill?

[nonhuman]

I assume the gyros would keep you up relative to the direction of gravity regardless of the grade of the road.

[design219]

Yes, but how would you slow down going down a hill?

[nonhuman]

Same was as on the flat. Because it's gyroscopically stabilized it should feel no different to you (although you'll be at greater risk of the tail hitting the ground).

[design219]

So there must be some sort of resistance on the wheels? Maybe the motors generate when not powering? The article doesn't say anything about brakes, just leaning to go forward or back.

I would be really worried about brakes on something like this...just a tap and POW!

[nonhuman]

It's exactly the same as a segway, you just sit on it instead of standing on it.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

It's exactly the same as a segway, you just sit on it instead of standing on it.

Then it's not exact, is it?</total dick>

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Then it's not exact, is it?</total dick>

It's EXACTLY the same but different.

[smacintush]

Kinda neat, but seems rather pointless.

[peeb]

So what am I missing here - how do the brakes work?

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by peeb 

So what am I missing here - how do the brakes work?

Apparently they don't. It's like a segway, only without all that pesky comfort.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Technically speaking, wouldn't you rather sit then stand?

But yeah, I think I'd be a little more apprehensive sitting. Not that I've ever tried either method of transportation.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Technically speaking, wouldn't you rather sit then stand?

But yeah, I think I'd be a little more apprehensive sitting. Not that I've ever tried either method of transportation.

Sit? Maybe.

Sit bent over, straddling TWO wheels with my legs opened up like Jenna Jameson…not so much.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by smacintush 

Sit? Maybe.

Sit bent over, straddling TWO wheels with my legs opened up like Jenna Jameson…not so much.

You're right. Perhaps if they took Big Mac's advice and made it more like Mr. Garrison's IT.

[peeb]

Originally Posted by smacintush 

Apparently they don't. It's like a segway, only without all that pesky comfort.

Well that's ok if you're doing 3mph on a segway, but this looks like it's a bit faster, no?

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by peeb 

Well that's ok if you're doing 3mph on a segway, but this looks like it's a bit faster, no?

Well it's powered by two wheelchair motors. Faster than a segway maybe, but hardly "fast". He claims that it will do 60 km/h eventually though.

[Dakar the Fourth]

In a stunning moment of nerd insight, I just realized the thing reminds me of a chocobo.

[osiris]

I had to look chocobo up. But you're right, it has the same stance, minus the wheelchair parts and lack of feathers, and beak.

The motor bike is pretty interesting, but I'd like to see a passenger vehicle (with a fully appointed interior) and room for 4 - all balanced on one wheel.
It begins to take on a Salvador Dali/Dr. Seuss charm once you move on to larger vehicles.
But kudos to the inventor.

[peeb]

Originally Posted by smacintush 

Well it's powered by two wheelchair motors. Faster than a segway maybe, but hardly "fast". He claims that it will do 60 km/h eventually though.

So how will it brake at 60mph?

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Then it's not exact, is it?</total dick>

I'm trying to come up with some amusing way of saying that I appreciate your sense of humor without it sounding like I like dick... and failing miserably.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

I'm trying to come up with some amusing way of saying that I appreciate your sense of humor without it sounding like I like dick... and failing miserably.

That joke will suffice, Dr. Orpheus.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by peeb 

So how will it brake at 60mph?

'Just steer into a gravel driveway and fall down.'

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by peeb 

So how will it brake at 60mph?

It won't do 60 mph.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by peeb 

So how will it brake at 60mph?

Quoted in triplicate.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by peeb 

So how will it brake at 60mph?

That's about 37 in mp/h but yeah, that's a good question.

I think maybe this young whipper-snapper hasn't figured that out yet. Gonna be a tough nut to crack.

I don't think emergency braking would be possible at all. Not without becoming airborn.

[smacintush]

To me this seems like a more grown-up, advanced version of the child inventors stuff.

It's cool and he deserves a lot of credit for his efforts but in the end he "invented" a sit down version of someone else's invention that borrows its looks from someone else's designs and I don't see it going anywhere.

[nonhuman]

Maybe it uses a drag chute for high speed braking.

Actually, thinking about the physics of it, it probably wouldn't be impossible to use traditional braking on this thing so long as the gyros were able to adequately compensate. It's basically a matter of torque: you have to be able to counterspin the body(?) sufficiently to overcome the inertia of braking.

[peeb]

****. What kind of size gyro would you need to stop the thing at 60kph?

[olePigeon]

You could do some sort of smart controlling of the gyros with a normal breaking system. Merely stopping is going to throw you forward, seem difficult.

[Jawbone54]

I wonder how fast it'll go...

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

Maybe it uses a drag chute for high speed braking.

Actually, thinking about the physics of it, it probably wouldn't be impossible to use traditional braking on this thing so long as the gyros were able to adequately compensate. It's basically a matter of torque: you have to be able to counterspin the body(?) sufficiently to overcome the inertia of braking.

Seems like a far-fetched idea to me. This thing is frakking top-heavy as hell with NO wheelbase for stability. I can't see how braking could ever really be adequate at higher speeds.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

OK, puzzled.

On a conventional bike, when you stop your body weight transfers forwards due to the laws of physics and the like. Hence "stoppies". But on this thing, leaning forwards actually accelerates the thing. So, you lean back to try and stop the thing and the sheer act of slowing down makes you lean forwards, which then accelerates the thing. Which throws your body weight backwards, which then tries to stop the thing. Which throws your weight forwards, which then makes it accelerate. Etc., etc..

They really didn't think this one through, did they?

It probably works fairly intuitively - like leaning back and pulling on the reins of a horse.

[Jawbone54]

And someone will probably die on this thing very soon.

[peeb]

Originally Posted by analogika 

It probably works fairly intuitively - like leaning back and pulling on the reins of a horse.

But the point is that when you lean back, and braking begins, you are thrown forward (relatively) with the force of deceleration. Since the thing pivots on one axel, that's a very difficult thing to control.