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Segway Robotic Mobility Platform Looks Like A Tumblebug
Segway's Robotic Mobile Platform (RMP) is now being sold by Japan SGI (only in Japan). The RMP was designed as a durable package for robotics applications.
(Robotic Mobile Platform (RMP))
However, to me, it works a lot like the tumblebug, from Robert Heinlein's 1940 novella The Roads Must Roll:
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 Heinlein's tumblebugs)
The Segway RMP is battery powered and statically stable; it is currently in use at more than twenty universities for applications involving mapping, leader-follower pairs, obstacle avoidance and path planning. It can carry up to 200 pounds (good news for many engineers looking for a tumblebug) and can travel at speeds of up to 8 miles per hour.
Check out these single-wheel balancing robots and scooters:
- Ballbot Balancing Upright Robot "We wanted to create a robot that can maneuver easily and is tall enough to look you in the eye..."
- Eunicycle Single-Wheel Gyro-Stabilized Scooter The Eunicycle balances itself using a feedback loop between a solid-state gyroscope and the wheel motor.
Read more about Segway's Robotic Mobility Platform; here is the product announcement (in Japanese) - RMP.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/24/2007)
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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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