My take on the Segway-HT as a medical device is this...
Yes, the patent definitely mention Parkinson's disease. But I think Kamen was working on the Ibot and the problem of getting the wheelchair to go up stairs. He got the idea to utilize "self-balancing" technology and began to build prototypes to get it working. Since he was concerned with getting the Ibot to work in 2-wheeled mode, he created 2-wheeled prototypes. He didn't create them intending to market them as human transporters. He just created those prototypes because they were simpler than the Ibot - a common denominator if you will - containing the essentials to test and perfect Dynamic Stabilization.
Now, as he gets DS working in the 2-wheeled prototype - he probably wakes up one morning and says - hmmm, I wonder if this could be developed into a consumer product? Well, he shelves that idea and finishes work on the Ibot. Afterall, that's how he and his engineers will be putting bread on the table.. getting Johnson & Johnson to sell these.
After DS is perfected and the Ibot is finished... He turns his attention back to that 2-wheeled prototype and wonders if it can be turned into a consumer product. Then he probably has a brain fart or something and realizes that he's created a solution to one of the world's pressing problems - clean, low noise and low pollution, intercity transportation. So he begins to perfect this prototype - now called Ginger, Fred's partner - more like sister, and develops the Segway-HT.
That's my take on it...
Regards,
Frank A. Tropea
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Ginger : Robotics :: PC : Computers
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