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Solowheel Self-Balancing Unicycle
Solowheel is a self-balancing electric unicycle; it consists of a wheel and two foldable foot platforms. Take a ride in the video below.
(Solowheel electric unicycle video)
Internally, the inner workings of the Solowheel use gyro sensors, a 1000-Watt motor and a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. All this technology is housed under a visually appealing, slim case with leg pads and a handle for easy carrying.100% battery operated; leaning controls your speed. Lean forward to go forward and backward when you want to slow down. The highly efficient lithium ion battery recaptures energy when going downhill or slowing down. It has a two hour battery life and can be fully recharged in only forty-five minutes.
The Solowheel is easy to learn. Because of the gyro-sensors and left and right steering capability, you can literally step on and go. The Solowheel is very portable and weighs only twenty pounds.
Fans of Robert Heinein's 1940 classic The Roads Must Roll recall the tumblebug, which differs from the Solowheel in that you get something to sit down on:
Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain, some twenty-five yards behind the leading wave. It had been a long time since the Chief Engineer had ridden one of these silly-looking little vehicles, and he felt awkward. A tumblebug does not give a man dignity, since it is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized on a single wheel.
(Read more about Robert Heinlein's Tumblebug.)
Here's the artist's view of what a tumblebug looked like, from the cover of Astounding Science Fiction:
(Heinlein tumblebug from Astounding SF June 1940)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/16/2011)
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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