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The balance, the precision aiming. The man: Woz takes a piss on his Segway. If this is Photoshopped (or the world's most convincing Woz lookalike), there truly is no God. [Macenstein] UPDATE: Woz confirms in the comments!
OK, OK... so Dean Kamen actually dreamed up the Segway in the first place and other amazing things, so he's pretty clever. But then so is the guy who's put together this Arduway out of an Arduino controller board and some Lego Mindstorms motors. It senses its position with a gyro, and balances pretty much like the real thing, only smaller. Maybe good for giving your pet mouse some 21st Century transport? If you're impressed and want to try it out then there's a DIY guide and the software available. Clever stuff. [Project page via Hackaday]
While his ability to rotate 360° at the elegant flick of the Segway's stalk seems to be a bit compromised, what this mod lacks in maneuverability it makes up with pure steamrolling surface area. The guy extended each axle to accommodate six more tires, thus becoming the only dude I know of who's been able to actually increase a Segway's macho factor, outside of the Chinese military, of course. [Street View Make]
Yesterday we saw in action the Large and Medium models of the Segway-killer Toyota Winglet. Here you have the Type S, which stands for small but, according to Toyota, could also mean Sports. Looking at the video, it makes sense: basically, this thing seems to allow for faster, more aggressive driving, achieving a behaviour similar to inline skates. Someone should boost their engines speed as soon as they arrive. [Toyota]
The Winglet is Toyota's Segway killer--as if there was anything left to kill--a personal transport assistant that comes in three different models, all destined to fail in the US to the lack of sidewalk vehicle regulations and cheeseburger/cup holders. The three models--Type S, M, and L--look great, especially the small one, with no handlebar at all.
You would have thought that the only way a police officer could have made a drunk driving arrest on a Segway was if the car jumped onto the sidewalk and slammed into one. However, an officer actually managed to chase down a drunken 18-year-old woman in a not-so-hot pursuit down the streets of Jackson, Michigan, recently.
Some agency not called the National Pedestrian Walkway and Novelty Tour Commission apparently ran the Segway though a battery of crash tests, dummies and all. I'm sure that by now many people have experienced something resembling this test, so it was probably wise to run the Seg into a few things to make sure it wouldn't kill anyone. As expected, the effect is almost identical to a tall man sprinting full speed into another, face first. An alternative back story for this video: It's a performance art piece entitled "Dude, You Kissed My Eyeball." [YouTube]
Juan González has hacked together a simple setup that lets his Wii Balance board move a small, irritating robot in any direction. This looks like the first robotic pairing for the board, which has to date has only been interfaced with computers as a control device to awkwardly navigate games and mapping applications. It's pretty clear that González is excited about this hack (watch the end of the video), but he isn't done yet- next up is is a Balance Board-based "robo-surfboard."
I actually want this Segway, it's like a mini-tank version for cyber-gladiators to parade out to the arena on, with knobby knuckle wheels that look like they're ripped off the Iron Monger. The RMP's guts are basically the original Segway's on steroids, jacked up to haul 180 kgs of fat cop. The bizarre wheels allow it to smoothly move in any direction, which actually looks kind of freaky in motion. Check out the video of its oddly seductive shimmying after the jump, since you can't afford it: It "might" run US$50,000.
Segways and Polo. Those two cups of tea are not really my bag, or whatever. But Woz's videos on how to play Segway Polo are an interesting look at the rule book. You can't ram or shove others, or run your Segway into the goal like those cheating bastards in Super Mario Strikers. (You know who you are.)
Yesterday we saw 