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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.'"
Yeah, Embryos don't create themselves.
All the same I bet it's a fun ride.
The Embryo is a concept. Until it is realized and a prototype is built, it is as good as any notebook sketch. The numbers quoted for speed are estimates. Given that, it is ridiculous to compare it to the Segway, which is in production.
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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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If you look at the specs this thing is really heavy, I don't think I could lift 360 pounds so to me it more like a motorcycle then a segway.
This is just the perfect thing for everyone who already has a motorcycle, and has been routinely frustrated with their inability to donate organs.
It says the Segway tops out at 6 mph. In reality, the number is 10 mph for the P Series and 12.5 for the I and E Series. (source: Seqway Specs.
Get your facts straight!
A blog like any other.
But this statement fails to mention the main objective of the Embrio's "learning mode": To instill in the trainee using adverse experience why it's a bad idea to exceed the maximum recommended operational speed of 6 mph.
But from the practical POV, this thing is a no-go. Anyone who ride motorbikes probably would agree. The mechanics of braking is none too gentle, and even if your bike has two wheels (and you on top, which is usually the case ;-), it can easily fight the gravity. And if anyone thinks that the riders of this Embrio will never exceed 30 mph, and will never need deceleration more than 1g, for example, they haven't learned a thing about humans :-) Fact is, humans tend to go as fast as they can, and as result they need to stop equally fast too.
Besides, what's the point? A motorbike (or a bicycle as its little brother) is already perfect. It exists pretty much unchanged for how much - 100 years? It's fun to ride, it's reliable, it's powerful (kW per pound ratio is good!), and it's small - so you can park it anywhere. You only shouldn't ride it in winter; but this Embrio is not any better traction-wise.
So again, why? Why exactly two wheels are bad? Why exactly it is so inherently evil to lose power and still be able to coast safely to a stop anywhere you choose? Why it is so bad to be able to brake hard when you have to? Why it is ungood to be able to fishtail on a wet road but still stay up & smiling? There is no such explanation in the article. My guess is, they made it because they could.
But as I said, the design is cool. Hydrogen fuel cell should be used in other vehicles (bikes #included). That would be good for the planet. But one wheel ... leave it for the circus.
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All I have to say is, BAM, third wheel!
Looks like exactly what Heinlein called "tumblebugs" in "The Roads Must Roll". As he described it "...the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized on a single wheel." Personally, I think I'll hold out for the flying car.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
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
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50 years ago, if you wanted to build a car/motorbike you would need to draft plans, then have a prototype built/tested before it ever hit a real assembly line. This would also generate tons of paper which had to be stored and secured. If you wanted another plant to have your plans you would have to mail them, train workers, ect. Changes and customizations took weeks or months, depending on how much training was needed for the workers and how much retooling was needed for the line.
Now you can design it in cad. Without even building a prototype you can test the handling inside a computer, then when your cad drawing is exactly how you want it, outsource the assembly it to a foriegn factory. Thanks to the lovely internet you can have your plans get there in hours. Changes can be made on the fly because workers have been replaced with robots. Japan is still ahead of the game in robotics, that's why I predict they will be the first to specialize in these types of "Just in time" assembly lines.
As reliable as current automotive robotics are, I think that we will see companies like Honda building entire factories filled with Asimo robots. Since the human body is designed so well for so many tasks, it makes sense for them to use humanoid robots for more general tasks like the current human population is used for today. Yes despite robots in factories now, we still need humans, but I don't think it will be too long before we have robots doing these tasks.
The bottom line to all this is once the ball gets rolling from these independant outfits like segway building vehicles, we'll see more variety on the road, and not just the gas guzzling oil dependant combustion vehicles we have today, but neat stuff like this self balancing unicycle.
I totally hate the idea of the Segway: it's too slow to be on the motorway, too heavy and quick to be safe on the walkway (and yet, it -is- allowed on the walkway), and it's realy bad on your knees.
This thing, however, addresses all my issues with the Segway: it's fast enough for the motorway and you can sit, reducing the strain on your knees.
If this thing takes off, it could reduce congestion and pollution caused by cars. That's almost utopian.
Sigged!
Here is a monumental safety imporvement to any low speed scooter, like a balancing scooter, a segway, or something else:
Problem: In a low speed (under 15 mph) failure of the equipment, the passenger will continue to move forward after the vehicle has stopped. The safest and most reasonable thing for the passener to do when the vehicle halts is to step off the front. However the front handlebar of these scooters eliminate that option, and as noted by the first reference, and more publicly by Mr. Bush, you will be thrown down on your face.
Solution: Remove the front handlebar. You could implement the controls on a rear handlebar that wraps arround the sides of the rider. It would make the vehicle less natural to mount (you step into it backwards) but much safer to bail off of at speed. If this is unacceptable, (or if passangers need to be able to bail off of an out of control scooter without being run over by it), provide the controls above one or two handlebars on the sides of the vehicle.
Better Idea Forget the whole self balancing nonsense as proposed by the third reference. Tricycles, however, are very unstable when turning. Make a quadricycle with no stearing column or handlebars. Put a pressure sensing pad on the top - transfer of pressure in any direction indicates a desire to exprerience acceleration in the opposite direction. The rider only fails to communicate with the platform if she has lost her balance and her center of mass is no longer "over" the platform (with respect to gravity and any pseudo forces she is experiencing), i.e. when she has already comitted herself to falling off. The vehicle automatically stops when the platform is vacated.