Makes sense. It should just fall over if one lets go of the bar while not on it. The minipro will try to stay upright by powering forward to get under the Handlebar. Eventually powering away faster than most people can run.

At 46 minutes into the Ironman movie, Jeff Bridges character comes riding up on a Segway i2 and steps off to walk into the reactor building. He just leaves the Segway and it stays upright and rolling forward. Tony Stark's chauffeur reaches out to catch it. I would like to see what it would do if not caught by the minions.

Power move to ride around your plant on a Segway, smoking a cigar, without a helmet and expect workers to catch the device when you hop off and walk away. Good scene for the character.

As far as I know, for all of the original (Gen1 and Gen2) Segways - although there are sensors for pressure from both feet, having ONE foot on the platform is sufficient to tell the Segway that there is a rider present.

Other than that, there is no generalization about behavior if the rider dismounts, or before the rider mounts, or other situations.

It depends on the model of the Segway. For instance, as you might suspect, the behavior of the Police/Patroller is quite different from some other models.

I had to double check - You are correct (of course) Dale that only one foot is needed. I would have sworn that ours beep a warning when you raise one foot off the pads . . . . but they don't. Sorry for any misinformation on my part

Don

As I recall, as a past Dealer, a Segway knows whether or not there are no feet, 1 foot or both feet.
It makes appropriate decisions.

No feet = nobody aboard.
2 feet = normal operation

1 foot = interesting.
If you are cornering and it sees a transitions from 2 to 1, then it assumes you are near the boundary of rider control, and eases the steering, but continues to run.
I think that if there's only 1 foot, max speed is reduced.
Interesting stuff like that.

Season's Greetings
Michael
www.dgbint.com

Since we are talking about it, lets not forget about my e-167. It was a gen one segway that would balance if you were on it or not. It 'self parked' while on.

I loved it, and would still have it had it been a gen 2 unit. (I had both at one point, and the lean steer won out over the riderless balance feature.)

A standard segway, of the original design factor with a central upright or a lean steer, will stay in balance mode for a short while after you get off, but because of the handlebar shaft being mounted forward of center, it will lean forward and drive forward on its own.

However, it has a 10 foot 'leash' and will not glide farther than that with no rider sensors depressed, and shut down.

This way, if you step off the segway, it will not immediately shut down and fall on you. Instead, it will glide away a short distance, and fall on its own.

Of course, these are the old rules. The newer units will likely do other things, I am not familiar with...

Karl, you are correct about everything, such as the 10 foot leash rule. You went on to say "these are the old rules. The newer units will likely do other things ..." Not so. the Gen 1, Gen 2, the i2SE (which came out in 2014, and I call Gen 3), and the Segway/Ninebot Elite+ all follow the 10 foot leash rule. Of course, the miniPro doesn't follow the rule, since it balances with the knee-steer bar. However, if you replace the knee-steer with one of the 3rd party full-size handlebars, it falls over forward almost immediately if you get off. So apparently its software does not understand why it can't balance when you get off, so it exits balance mode.

Michael, at first I didn't agree with what you said about 1 foot riding, because I always thought my Segways (I've owned 5), all worked the same whether I was depressing 1, 2, 3, or all 4 Ride Detect Sensors. However, I just downloaded the i2SE manual. It agrees with you that if less than 3 sensors (thus meaning one foot) are depressed, the Speed Limiter is reduced. It doesn't mention turning rate, but the reduction you mentioned would make sense. Also, it says that if 2 of the 4 sensors are not detected, it displays two footprints on the Info Key, which means Rider Detect Error. And it says that in Turtle Mode, if less than 2 sensors are depressed (presumably meaning one sensor), it reduces the turning rate to 15%, which allows beginners to mount while yanking on the LeanSteer bar, which we all know beginners love to do until they fall off. Normal LeanSteer sensitivity in Turtle Mode is 55%.

With Gen 2s (although I haven’t tried SE), they don’t start balancing until someone steps on them - but getting off of them does not automatically stop the balancing and put them in the same mode as when they started up. Instead, they remain in Power-Assist mode, which is designed to help you walk with the Segway. You can use the LeanSteer in this mode and the Segway will move itself according to your commands.

This mode is what makes the question confusing, because technically it actually is still self-balancing (it keeps itself upright and rolling) - but you can’t use it to just keep the Segway in one place, because even the slightest tilt or incline makes it move.

If you do want to get completely out of balance mode, you can either use the InfoKey or grab the right handlebar and take five steps straight forward.

With Gen 1s, there is a physical button to switch between modes.

.....and the Generation 2 (and SE) Patroller models act entirely differently, when the rider dismounts.

Or, you can step back onto the platform and resume gliding as usual.

Or, you can lean it against some stationary object, and it will politely stay there until you get back on the platform. I use that mode when I glide to the big neighborhood mailbox to get my mail.