Arm strength required
 

Hello,

As someone with a mobility limitation I have been considering the suitability of a Segway for me. Living in Sydney means that I haven't had the opportunity yet to try one out which will really be the only way to know. (There is someone here with one, but I haven't yet been able to get contact details).

I am able to stand and balance for extended periods of time, so I'm being optimistic on that score, and the lower p series might make things easier for me as well.

My question regards what strength is required in the arms to use the Segway successfully? I have a chronic pain type condition so I'm quite limited how much I can use my arms before getting too sore.

For example, I can move a mouse (computer mouse) all day, but I can't click one all day (I use voice recognition instead). Or, I can't use a three wheeled electric scooter because the manual steering is too difficult.

So the question is how much do you actually use your arms to control the Segway, and how much effort is involved. To move forwards and backwards is most of it a shift in balance, or do you tend to push the handlebar forwards and backwards?

Has anyone modified a Segway to include some sort of arm rest that extends for example from the handlebar towards where the elbows would be?

Any ideas, subjective experiences would be appreciated. I know that in the end I have to try this all out myself, but it's good to have some information upfront.

Thanks
Ronny

Ronny,
The major use of the upper extremity is the steering which is controlled by a left hand twisting motion. Similar to twisting the throttle on a motorcycle. Repetative but intermittent twisting and gripping strength for about one hour (depending on the lenght of your ride) is required.

Mike in Houston Texas

Ronny, In terms of getting a personal demonstration, here is some information that might help. I have heard of Segway owner in Sydney named Kevin Adams but I don't have any contact info on him. There is also a member of the forum, Michael who lives in Melbourne his name on the forum is DGBINT. If you go to the member information area and click on his name a form will come up which allows you to send him an e-mail. Of course I can't promise anything but he might be able to either get you in touch with Kevin or help in some other way.

Ronny,

The efforts you are concerned about are minimal. The greatest effort you indicate you can handle - extended standing. The balancing and turning efforts are minimal. I hope you get a demo to verfy your hopes. Please report back as I have two friends who I think would benefit but are unwilling to try, thinking the effort would not be worth the reward - how little they know. There is nothing compared to gliding.


Follow your bliss,[^]
Ron

http://www.defenbaugh.org/Segway/segway_ht.htm

In reguards to the had grip if you modified a joystick device to it with a hand strap it just might work for you, no gripping involved

peace is a oneway street, with no crossroads and no deadends

EDIT- Hand Grip, left right mouse movement

peace is a oneway street, with no crossroads and no deadends

Thanks for your help, ideas and support. I definitely will report back once I get a demonstration.

Unfortunately I think that Kevin Adams has returned to the US (I was in touch with a local reporter who did a story on him and his Segway). I have been in touch with Michael (DGBINT), and it might be time for a trip down to Melbourne.

Well I finally made the trip down to Melbourne and had my first Segway experience thanks to Michael (dbgint).

It was amazing! Being insufficiently articulate to describe the experience, all I can say is... amazing... wow... unbelievable...

I had three main concerns about the physical requirements and whether or not the Segway would be suitable for me.

1. How much arm strength is required in holding onto the handlebar. My main concern was when leaning forward do you need to "push" the handlebar, and when leaning backwards, do you need to "pull" the handlebar.

The experience of this was fantastic. Such little effort is required by the arms when leaning forward and backwards, it was great.

2. I was concerned about extra effort required by the legs when turning or traversing ground that slopes perpendicular to the direction of travel.

The area of Melbourne I was gliding was very flat, without perpendicular sloping pavements and wasn't able to check this out extensively. Most of the turns I was making was at a lower speed, and didn't often need to lean into the turns by bending the legs. I did some gliding at Caulfield Park with some small areas where the ground slopes perpendicular to the direction of gliding.

All in all from my limited initial experience, this seems to be okay.

3. My last main concern was regarding the strength required to operate the steering control. This is the area that I had most difficulty with. (With my condition, I don't have difficulty doing stuff, I just get sore for extended periods afterwords if too much effort is required).

After probably gliding for the best part of an hour, my arm was sore until the next day. (Definitely worth the ache though!)

At present, my arms are in an "average" phase, and during bad periods, I would find the effort required to turn the steering control somewhat prohibitive. However, I'm confident that there will be a way to modify this even if it means voiding the warranty. (A Segway without warranty is better than no Segway at all).

(I will be starting a thread about steering modifications if anyone is interested in the main discussion area)

Ronny

Good to hear everything went well Ronny,

simple modifications are always the best!
How about a "fat grip" on the twist control?? would that help?!
Glad to see you don't tthink you need any elaborate arm support!

Bill Contoyannis
Manager / Rehabilitation Engineer, REHAB Tech
Centre for Biomedical Engineering - Monash University

Thanks Bill,

The idea of a "fat grip" on the control is a good one, but I think that when I have bad days I need something easier than that.

I saw another posting about the steering control which makes me think that it should be reasonably easy to modify.

http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3412

Cheers
Ronny