I think I’ve smiled more in the last few years than in all of my previous years. Why? The Segway PT is simply a grin-making machine. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had plenty to smile about over the years. But it ain’t called the Segway Smile for nothin’.
When gliding (riding a Segway), I’m often greeted by smiles, thumbs-up, and exclamations like “That’s so cool!” or “I’ve always wanted to try one of those!”. But it’s not all roses. I’ve had people ignore, laugh at, avoid, frown at, deride, swear at, and ridicule me. Definitely a wide range of reactions. Why? Well, my theory is that people with mostly positive attitudes toward life react favorably to the Segway. While people with more negative demeanors react less favorably to it.
The Segway PT is completely different from other modes of transportation. And for those with a negative outlook, different often breeds misunderstanding; which often breeds uncertainty; which often breeds fear and doubt; which often breed ridicule. And the fear and doubt can cause some to regard something new as dangerous. But why would a company create an inherently dangerous machine? It wouldn’t. In today’s society, a dangerous product would never even get past the design stage – let alone be manufactured and sold. But I digress.
Of course, I’m often asked how the Segway works. And there have been some interesting guesses. One of my favorites is that the base of the Segway is a heavy counter-weight that keeps the machine upright. Interesting, but nope. Most of the time I try to explain it in relatively simple terms. But sometimes I just say it’s “techno-magic” and grin even more.
So how does it work? It uses “dynamic stabilization” to emulate the human mobility characteristics and footprint. Huh? More simply, it’s like balancing a baseball bat on your hand – where you are the baseball bat and the Segway is your hand.
But let’s take the comparison a little farther. How does a person stand upright? The human body uses electricity (nerve impulses), motors (muscles), a rigid frame (bones), balance sensors (the inner ear), and information processors (the brain) to continually keep its balance against gravity. And amazingly, the Segway uses the same: electricity (supplied by batteries), motors (electric motors and wheels), a rigid frame (metal parts), balance sensors (electronic gyroscopes), and information processors (computers).
But how does it move, you ask? The same way the human body does. When you walk, you lean forward slightly and your legs and feet move to stay underneath you. And the farther you lean, the faster you’ll walk – or run. The Segway? Same thing: lean forward slightly and it moves to stay underneath you. The farther you lean, the faster it will go. And to slow down or stop, you lean back slightly – same as the human body.
So is the Segway PT dangerous? Not inherently, no. In addition to the amazing technology, it has many safety features and redundant systems. Can it fall over? Sure, for the same reasons people fall over when walking or running: by not watching where they’re going and/or being too confident in their abilities. And we’ve all been guilty of those. But we learn to be careful.
So find out why I smile so much. Get your glide on and get your grin on!
Thanks for listening.
Bob Stauffer
