Segways - Human Transporter

Segways - Human Transporter

Get Ready for a Ride (Introduction)

At first glance, this device (called the SegwayTM Human Transporter) doesn't seem all that remarkable it looks like a high-tech scooter. But people who have tried it out claim that it is much, much more than scooter but a completely different way to get around.

Dean Kamen, the machine's inventor, has especially high hopes for the Segway. He claimed that his machine "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy."

In this paper, we'll find out what sets the Segway apart from earlier vehicles, and we'll see why it will change the world. While it may not live up to the year of hype preceding its release, the Segway is most definitely an amazing machine

"This is the world's first self-balancing human transporter," Kamen said. "You stand on this Segway Human Transporter and you think forward and then you go forward. If you think backward, you go backward."

"All of the knowledge that went into knowing how to walk is transferred to this machine," Kamen said. "When you stand on this machine, it kind of walks for you. It just does it smoothly and gracefully."

The Segway only has two wheels; it looks something like an ordinary hand truck, yet it manages to stay upright by itself.
To move forward or backward on the Segway, the rider just leans slightly forward or backward. To turn left or right, the rider turns the right handlebar forward or backward. But no matter what the rider does, the thing won't tip over. Since it responds to the slightest leaning motion, the Segway moves almost effortlessly, it’s a lot like walking.

This balancing act is the most amazing thing about the Segway, and it is the key to its operation. To understand how this system works, it helps to consider Kamen's model for the device- the human body.

If you stand up and lean forward, so that you are out of balance, you probably won't fall on your face. Your brain knows you are out of balance, because fluid in your inner ear shifts, so it triggers you to put your leg forward and stop the fall. If you keep leaning forward, your brain will keep putting your legs forward to keep you upright. Instead of falling, you walk forward, one step at a time.

The Segway does pretty much the same thing, except it has wheels instead of legs, a motor instead of muscles, a collection of microprocessors instead of a brain and a set of sophisticated tilt sensors instead of an inner-ear balancing system. Like your brain, the Segway knows when you are leaning forward. To maintain balance, it turns the wheels at just the right speed, so you move forward.

In the next section, we'll take a closer look at the components that make this possible.

Download full seminar papers At
http://www.enjineer.com/forum