Motorized unicycles

[The Illusive Man]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUpjnUx_Qg4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUpjnUx_Qg4</a>

Why this vehicle was created:

Hoffmann was fishing with his then-13-year-old daughter about seven years ago.

“She said, ‘Daddy, I saw this one-wheeled motorcycle in a video game. Could you actually build that?’”
Hoffman thought he probably could.

He has no formal engineering degree but worked in design, engineering and invention in Detroit, Michigan, before moving himself and his inventing career to Portland in 1996.

“It’s been a long journey for me from getting doughnuts and running blueprints. That was in 1976 that I got my first engineering job … But for me, engineering was always about figuring out how to make it my own.”

On the product name

The name RYNO, like the design, stemmed from a video game Hoffmann’s daughter played, “Ratchet & Clank.” The toughest weapon in the game is the R.Y.N.O. Hoffmann says the acronym for his product is open for interpretation – he usually goes with Ride Your New Opportunity.

This thing is a death trap. A pity it can only go 10mph, any faster and you would get to become one with the road. Always remember folks, just when you think you mastered the bike it shows you a new trick.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdRnQFzMxr8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdRnQFzMxr8</a>

[Ultimate Paragon]

And I thought the Segway was dumb...

[Cerim Treascair]

I'll admit, it LOOKS pretty freakin' cool, but yeah, I don't have the balance for this.  I'd want a roll cage I could put around myself in the inevitable case of me tipping over.

[Old Viking]

This will go well.

[mellenORL]

There is a new one wheel electric skateboard just hitting the market. Safe enough and way fun lookin'. I'll try to find a link to the video I saw a few days ago.

ADDENDUM

Well, I found a good example of either co-inky-dink or co-opting.

2007, UK version of the single wheel skateboard;

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGbbag9dklU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGbbag9dklU</a>

2013/14, USA version after "5 years of research and thousands of dollars of R&D" presented in a slick, produced video on Ebaum's;
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/83800516/


Gotta say, it's an improvement mainly only because compact lithium batteries are now cheaply procurable, and the gyros, accelerometers come cheaply off the shelf, and software is adapted from smartphone apps.

Whether this was a deliberate rip off of the British inventors or an example of independent innovation happens when the tech and time are ripe for it, I feel very badly for them.

[MadCatTLX]

There have been quite a few powered unicycles that I've seen. They're usually gryo stabilized and supposedly easy to use since it balances on it's own. Honestly I'd prefer one of the uni-wheel cycles were you sit inside the wheel.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdq4wer7vgk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdq4wer7vgk</a>

I've seen one built out of an old back wheel off a larger tractor, which wouldn't be hard to get ahold of around here. It's at 0:30 in this next video.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSuSZ4T5SSo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSuSZ4T5SSo</a>

The hardest part is steering. If you want a totally true monowheel, then it is usually done with either a vertical fin on the back like a boat or plane, or with leaning stabilized by the gyro. If you're more willing to compromise it can be done with two small wheels on struts,like normal bicycle training wheels, that hang out and allow lean turning. One of the easiest solutions it two make in not one wheel, but actually two narrower wheels right next to each other, and thus allowing it to steer but changing the speed of each wheel.

When looking for the tractor wheel cycle I also found this thing that looks like a really old and up-scaled version of the uni-skateboard. It appears that it might be semi-amphibious, and if not, I could make a modified design that is. This would benefit greatly fro the side-by-side wheel design. It's hard to tell the depth of the picture and thus the width of the vehicle, but it might use that wheel arrangement anyway. I don't see any other method of steering. It would also need sliding weights on the sides that move automatically to compensate for the weight of the driver, and load, and the torque of the wheels. Sacrificial skid plates on the ends might not be a bad idea either.



Yes, I've put thought in to the engineering and building of one of these, why do ask?

Edit: Turns out the last one had a video of it and a couple similar prototypes in operation. The one pictured is actually a two-seater and had a pretty good speed capability.

Video: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/one_wheel_vehicle/Movie.htm

Original page I found: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/not-a-monocycle-a-one-wheeler/38073/page1/

[Ultimate Paragon]

Here's another dumb transportation idea: the treadmobile.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884</a>

Why the hell does this thing even exist?

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

Here's another dumb transportation idea: the treadmobile.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884</a>

Why the hell does this thing even exist?

Somehow, I knew that exact style of music would be playing in the video when I first saw the preview image.

Edit:

[Ghoti]

Here's another dumb transportation idea: the treadmobile.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gsaDxK884</a>

Why the hell does this thing even exist?

Unicycle Motorcycle: kinda cool, stupid name, something that would make more sense in a video game than in real life.
Motorized Skateboard: actually pretty cool, and it "meshes" a little better with reality.
This Whatthefuckery: WHHHHYYYYY!?! WHY, WHITE PEOPLE, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?

Edit: right after I hit post I thought of a reason for this whatthefuckery to exist: physical rehabilitation, probably for stroke victims and MS sufferers. The threadmill surface provides a clean surface and stabilizing straps could be attached to the bars on the side. Marketing it as "the revolution that's going to change America from a fat nation to a fit nation" is pants-on-head retarded, but the device isn't totally useless.

[Ultimate Paragon]

Well, it's good to see it's not completely worthless.

[mellenORL]

The Homer Treadmobile! Doh!

It also looks like something Fred Flintstone would dream up as a vision of the future.

[Flying Mint Bunny!]

The one wheel bikes you sit inside always remind me of that thing in South Park that fucked you as you rode it.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

The one wheel bikes you sit inside always remind me of that thing in South Park that fucked you as you rode it.

The Entity

[Askold]

This thing is a death trap. A pity it can only go 10mph, any faster and you would get to become one with the road. Always remember folks, just when you think you mastered the bike it shows you a new trick.

"Tough words coming from someone NOT on an unicycle."

I think this is quite harmless invention. It is a toy, a gimmick, much like a segway but one that you can sit on. (Which I assume makes it more comfortable for use.)

[Zygarde]

Kinda looks like the thing the one of the rangers used in Power Rangers S.P.D .