Another Segway wheelchair

[Step]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6IPCFyCeLQ&feature=related

The Recaro seat is too bulky and the one with outdoor tires is quite large but I still like the idea of a Segway wheelchair.
This guy added tilt, recline and a lift to the seat...

I'm waiting for one with joystick steering because using upper body balance for forward-rearward control might be a problem for higher sci's.

[Burgerman]

With skinny tyres on they make very practical powerchairs. I was looking at using its guts years ago. Cost stopped me.

The pros:
Comfort (no casters) at least with the big fat tyres.
Fun!
Easy indoors (again with skinny tyres...)

Cons:
Battery is a bit small. Easy to fix.
Off road / sand / mud / snow it sinks or skids and falls with skinny tyres, and doesent work well indoors with fat ones.

It needs narrowing, so that it stays narrow with the fat tyres and bigger batteries adding and then it would be great.

[Lord Chatterley]

I like it as a concept but I would like to see what happens if it hits a kerb - I was recently travelling downhill in a Storm3 at 6.5mph and hit a deep unmarked gutter that crossed at a right angle from one side of the path to the other - gave me quite a jolt.

LC

[Burgerman]

Depending how severe that would bend a caster fork or something on mine.

[Step]

Best version I've seen sofar was at Gennymobility.
http://www.gennymobility.com/

They have a 2nd generation out now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DfcjRcoef0

curbs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1kFOTVVhgE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pTJdNnhYyw&feature=related

[Burgerman]

The fat tyre one seems much better on curbs, less jolting. But we are back to too the too wide issue again then. A narrow one, with fat tyres (at lower pressure than in that vid) and bigger batteries would work great for me for everything. I can see my buying a segway and cutting it up...

That small curb, and ramp with the skinny tyre one was less impressive. Ramp about 10 degrees, my realistic estimate, and about the same as the grass one Mark at wheelchairjunkie shows by the look of it but longer, and a pretty lightweight user. And just a 1 to 2 inch curb. And a fairly hard jolt on the way up that too. How steep a ramp can it actually do? With a 20 stone grown human... Before ordering one of those I would like to know.

I love the idea of balancing. I tested the pre production Ibot 3000 a year or so before release, and the pre production 4000 replacement. The only thing about it I liked was balance mode. It was crap at everything else really. But that alone made it worth while.

Its fun, takes less space, saves battery power, means no rattly casters needed, turns on the spot, etc etc.

[Fulliautomatix]

Another version from 'SegSolutions'.
$1400 for seat & stick kit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XyTdSV8 ... re=related
http://www.segsolutions4freedom.com/Home_Page.html

[Phil Esgate]

I've only ever seen a few segways and they were on a very smooth surface at Malaga airport, where the airport staff used them whiz around while avoiding passengers. From what I can see, you need to be able to lean forwards and backwards to make the thing go! - I can't do that! I'm almost always reclined and supported with my head wobbling around the headrest. Perhaps they can make one with a joystick control!

[Burgerman]

You can (they do) easily.

[Fulliautomatix]

You can (they do) easily.

??
This is the only serious mention I can find, and it is relating to Segway Robotic Mobility Platform rather than Personal Transporter.
http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/player/segwayrmp/howto.html

[Thndrwhls]

I've looked into the Segway as a platform for a chair, or even a stander. I am actually trying to raise funds to build my own, seems it would meet the specifications that John has laid out for a power chair, with skinny tires anyway. That being said they will traverse most terrain without issue with those skinny tires and front to back, they would be no more than your knees to the back of your chosen seat. 12 mph and fair range which can be improved. I have looked at their robotic platform, you sacrifice some speed but would be allowed various control options, i.e. Joystick, wireless R/C controller etc...

Ironically the guy who developed the Ibot and the Segway, had a lot of ideas for mobility devices. I am afraid though that he realized that its much more lucrative to develop for the military. Sadly he discontinued the ibot and sold Segway, im hoping though that if I can raise enough money I can go to them and in return get a platform that is not limited to lean for motion but can be used with a Joystick and have various modes programmed. This should not be a problem given the CAN protocol, even if its necessary to modify their standard model.

There is a guy in Italy that has created a stander on one, the Marioway: http://youtu.be/eOO3YdmXG7w

[Burgerman]

For what its worth...

Dean Kamen originally developed the iBot 3000 in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson so they had a "fancy" robotic wheelchair as a proof of their capability. They trotted it around all the worlds trade shows while they were still developing it (I had a small hand in testing a prototype) since the guy charged with opening the Independence Technology company (for J&J) in Europe had a mum who lived in Grimsby... So I was the excuse for him to visit his mum! Long story.

This chair was eventually sold on via special training centres, after years of waiting and testing and shows, for end users in very limited quantities.

It was frankly a terrible daily wheelchair, with reliability issues, programming problems that made it steer and drive awfully, very short on range, very expensive batteries, and pretty dismal performance in daily wheelchair mode due to being way too nose heavy and long, and tiny rock hard casters and programming problems. Its 4x4 mode wasn't much better, as it tried to tear its own tyres off and kill its batteries if you turn on hard surfaces. Stair climbing caused overheating, shutdowns with a little "service" light flashing leaving you trapped on a staircase. Ask me how I know! And this also ate batteries at a high rate and didn't feel very usable or safe.

Balance mode was however FUN! No massive advantages really, but you wanted to do it.
This was the SOLE REASON to get one of these chairs. I had one though sat here and still preferred my own normal chairs for regular duties. Just faster, more agile, shorter and more comfortable and with better range etc.

Dean Kamen who by now had nothing to do with the iBot any longer, then took the balance technology and created the Segway scooter thingy.
They are OK but have small batteries and are a bit lightweight and fragile for daily powerchair use 24/7 days a week.