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Bombardier's Embrio: Sexier Segway?
Ridgelift writes "Articles at Wired News, Popular Science, and Forbes are covering Bombardier's Embrio. It's a single-wheeled, hydrogen fuel cell-powered, gyroscopically balanced concept vehicle. While the Segway tops out at 6 mph, the Embrio 'hits 35 mph in the learning mode alone.' Very cool -- looks like something straight out of 'Minority Report.'"
All the same I bet it's a fun ride.
I noticed no specs on stopping distance. Just from the physics of a unicycle wouldn't rapid stopping be a problem?
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Aimed at the 18 to 45 age group
...but the only people who can afford it are wealthy old men with rollercoasters in the backyard and robotic butlers that answer the front door, I'm sure.
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The design is really, really cool. But other than that, I don't really see the advantage of this. It seems to give no advantage compared to a normal bike, and has quite a few disadvantages (less space, more complexity). Throwing in a fuel cell-based drivetrain could just as easily (if not easier) be done for a two-wheeled bike as well - and would incidentally be a pretty good idea (with the electric motors in the wheels, you would get rid of the chain, and could have practical two-wheel drive).
I love dupes, you get the opportunity to use other people's comments to achieve mod point heaven.
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--"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
From the article: The vehicle is designed as a guess at what transportation in the year 2025 might look like.
This might be pretty darn accurate. The thing that sets this apart from the Segway is one crucial element: Speed. If a Segway malfunctions you're not going wery fast... but with a vehicle like this you're pretty much doomed if there is a serious malfunction. At the very least the car behind you will run you over.
Current vehicles like cars and motorcycles can be stopped safely if you run out of power/propulsion, but something like this has to have safeguards which keeps that from happening.
Back to the whole 2025 thing: In order to make this stuff safe it requires testing, testing and some more testing. An that requires time.
Don't get me wrong... I love the idea, but it has to be done correctly and without compromises.
You'd think the editors could actually search their own archives for the word "Bombardier" or "Embrio", wouldn't you?
Is it really that hard to do?
Jeez, you could write up a script in five minutes that would search a story for company and product names (hint: look for capitalisation) and check to see what other related stories there have been recently. Flag those for the editor to briefly glimpse over before hitting the "approved" button and you've saved yourself 99 percent of dupes.
Again, is it really that hard to do?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
the only reason
I live in Bermuda where getting around by scooter is a very common thing - as opposed to say Boston or Denver in the U.S.
My Vespa with gas and carrying my laptop and rain gear is around 300lbs. That is lighter than the single wheeled beast in this article. My Vespa ET4 is 125cc and can go much faster than 36mph (although there isn't much need for it since the speed limit here is 35kmph and I personally never go over around 50kmph - occasionally 60, but that is considered dangerous here).
Vespa claims that it gets 46mpg, but I have seen it doing better than that, which is good since our gas is well over $5 per gallon.
I would be interested in seeing the price on that singled wheeled unit and trying it out compared to my Vespa - but I would imagine that it can't hold much of anything and is largely a gimmick.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
Why would the Embrio be superior to a motorcycle? It's less stable and less safe. Where's the win?
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Seeing how a small capacity motorcycle, like those Honda C90s go faster, offer more flexibility, and well over 100 mpg, what's the point? It's not like you can really use these silly personal transport thingies in the tight spaces their compact designs are made for without running over someone. They seem to fit in that world of maybe too far to walk, but not really far enough to justify a vehicle. Hell, I'll stick to my feet in that case!