SUGGESTED CHANGES TO i2 SEGWAY

[RAY-NER]

It's hard to find a thread that discusses suggested changes that SEGWAY INC. should be considering, so I chose this one.

Below is a copy of an email I sent to SEGWAY customer service last week. Don't know if there will ever be an answer, but it was worth a try.

Any comments from members of this group are welome.

RAY-NER

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Judy,

During our phone conversation of Wednesday, I
mentioned a few possible feature upgrades to the Model
i2 that will improve user safety AND convenience of
loading the Segway into a vehicle.

A) User Safety

When moving forward at moderate speed and the wheels
are elevated if they encounter an unexpected speed
bump OR any rise that causes the wheels to loose
traction, the rider can be thrown from the Segway.
There should be an immediate shutdown that stops the
wheels from rotating when there is no pressure applied
to the Segway platform when the rider falls to the
ground and his body is no longer applying pressure to
the Segway platform.

This feature is required in order to stop the wheels
from turning if one of the rider’s feet is trapped
between the mudguard and the console.

However, when the Segway is not in motion and the
rider is stepping off the platform, the shutdown
occurs in the normal fashion by pressing the shutdown
button on the infokey. The foregoing shutdown is
recommended only when the Segway is in forward motion.

B) Loading the Segway into a vehicle with a hatchback lid.

In order to use the power of the i2 Segway to load it
into a vehicle using ramps, currently it is nearly impossible to go up the ramp using the power of the wheels in motion.

The reason is that in order to go forward (up the ramp)
the wheels have to move forward. To cause that to
happen, the bar must be positioned at an angle that
basically causes the Segway’s wheels to move backward. To do this, the bar must be tilted in the same direction as lifting the SEGWAY over a curbstone in the riderless mode. It is then impossible to enter the
vehicle because the bar strikes the hatchback lid.
In addition, controlling the Segway in this fashion is extremely difficult.

In order to properly load the Segway using a ramp, the
wheel motion has to be reversed temporarily in order
for the user to be able to stand behind the Segway and
guide it up the ramp using the bar in a position to
have very slow speed as it goes up to the edge of the
hatchback opening. In this way, the user has total
control as it goes up the ramp and enters the vehicle
without the bar striking the underside of the
hatchback lid.

Upon shutdown using the infokey, the reverse format is
cancelled and the normal startup method prevails
thereafter.

To reverse the order of motion in order to navigate
the loading ramp, the program would be initiated by
the user simply by pressing two buttons on the infokey
simultaneously for three seconds. One of the buttons
is the startup key and the other is any one of the
remaining three keys as your software designer
chooses.

[BillPaxton]

I'm missing something - see below:

Originally Posted by RAY-NER

This feature is required in order to stop the wheels
from turning if one of the rider’s feet is trapped
between the mudguard and the console.

I don't understand how this would happen

Originally Posted by RAY-NER

However, when the Segway is not in motion and the
rider is stepping off the platform, the shutdown
occurs in the normal fashion by pressing the shutdown
button on the infokey.

how would the glide know the difference between falling off and stepping off?

Originally Posted by RAY-NER

In order to use the power of the i2 Segway to load it
into a vehicle using ramps, currently it is nearly impossible to go up the ramp using the power of the wheels in motion.

I can't get a mental picture of what you are describing...I load my i167s all the time into my suv by a rather steep ramp (two tin hurrican shutters cut to 3.5' at a roughly 45 degree angle) and it requires no effort whatsoever, power assist does 100% of the climbing. I tilt it as its rolling up and in, and once its all the way in I shut it off and put my styrofoam scuba tank stops under the wheels and I'm off.

[Desert_Seg]

Originally Posted by BillPaxton

...I load my i167s all the time into my suv by a rather steep ramp (two tin hurrican shutters cut to 3.5' at a roughly 45 degree angle) and it requires no effort whatsoever, power assist does 100% of the climbing. I tilt it as its rolling up and in, and once its all the way in I shut it off and put my styrofoam scuba tank stops under the wheels and I'm off.

You are talking Gen1 and he is talking Gen2. Although there is power assist in Gen2 it does not work like Gen1 and isn't as functional when going into / out of a car.

Steven

[hellphish]

I don't understand what you are getting at with the first suggestion. Are you saying that the segway should shut off if it goes airborne while carrying a rider? I fail to see how shutting down in this situation would keep the user safer than if it just went on balancing.

[RAY-NER]

Originally Posted by hellphish

I don't understand what you are getting at with the first suggestion. Are you saying that the segway should shut off if it goes airborne while carrying a rider? I fail to see how shutting down in this situation would keep the user safer than if it just went on balancing.

+++++++++ I think I indicated that the shutoff must occur if the rider's feet are not on the platform while the wheels are still turning. In my spill, my left foot was off the platform and my right foot was caught but not pressing on the platform, so the switches under the pad were not depressed on either side. See my reply to Bill Paxton.

RAY-NER

[BillPaxton]

Originally Posted by Desert_Seg

You are talking Gen1 and he is talking Gen2. Although there is power assist in Gen2 it does not work like Gen1 and isn't as functional when going into / out of a car.

Steven

thank you I figured they were the same. why would they change that I wonder?

[polo_pro]

Rayner, during my next trip into LA I'll stop by and address some of your concerns in person. Sometimes things get sorted out much quicker in person. A demonstration is worth a thousand words, eh?

(Now if I also take this opportunity to put a polo mallet in your hand, don't be surprised! 8^) 8^) 8^) Feel the balance....notice how it almost seems like an extension of your arm!)

ps - If you don't mind telling us, who'd you buy your i2 from? Any dealer should have handle a fair number of these questions/issues.

[RAY-NER]

Originally Posted by plo

Rayner, during my next trip into LA I'll stop by and address some of your concerns in person. Sometimes things get sorted out much quicker in person. A demonstration is worth a thousand words, eh?

(Now if I also take this opportunity to put a polo mallet in your hand, don't be surprised! 8^) 8^) 8^) Feel the balance....notice how it almost seems like an extension of your arm!)

ps - If you don't mind telling us, who'd you buy your i2 from? Any dealer should have handle a fair number of these questions/issues.

++++ In your city of Santa Barbara, the Segway dealer is Jerry Mahoney whom I trust you know very well. I did not discuss this with him in advance of my submission to SEGWAY, INC., but he has an email copy of it.

RAY-NER

+++++++++++++++++++

[RAY-NER]

Originally Posted by BillPaxton

I'm missing something - see below:
I don't understand how this would happen

++++ In my one and only fall from the i2, I was in a forward motion in the parking lot of a strip mall. Without watching what was ahead for a brief instant, the wheels met with the sharp rise of a speed bump that had no visible markings as most do. The i2 lost traction and I was thown to the ground on my right side, while my right foot was trapped because the right side of my lower calve was forced against the mudgard while my shoe was against the console as the Segway wheels were still turning and the left wheel was above ground. A customer in one of the stores raced to my rescue and twisted the i2 so I could remove my foot as I lay on the ground with severe pain in my ankle area.
+++++++++++++

how would the glide know the difference between falling off and stepping off?

++++++ I pointed out in the message that the instant shutoff would occur if the i2 was in forward motion. That differs from the stationary situation when stepping off.

+++++++++++++
I can't get a mental picture of what you are describing...I load my i167s all the time into my suv by a rather steep ramp (two tin hurrican shutters cut to 3.5' at a roughly 45 degree angle) and it requires no effort whatsoever, power assist does 100% of the climbing. I tilt it as its rolling up and in, and once its all the way in I shut it off and put my styrofoam scuba tank stops under the wheels and I'm off.

+++++ Your i167 has the power assist feature which i2 does not. The i2 will travel backward in the balance mode if you tilt the bar backward as the i2 is in the same position as when you stepped off. In order to move forward, you must tilt the bar forward to slowly move the i2 up the loading ramp. This is where the difficulty lies. Imagine where you must stand in order to guide the i2 up the ramp under this scenario. Besides that, the bar must be used to guide it up-ramp until the handle bar collides with the hatchback lid. This is a very difficult loading procedure as you can envision. Therefore, for ease of loading, the order of direction must be temporarily reversed as described.
++++++++++++++++++++
RAY-NER

[cruiter]

The one time I was stupid enough to hot dog on my i2 getting air time over driveway cutouts and looked away when hitting one at 45 degree angle, the segway went left, I continued straight (all in air) and "Max" did shut down somewhere in the process. So did I with a broken wrist (to avoid face plant on concrete). It does do a safety shut down.

A couple of times a week, I load Max into the back of our RX300 using the seg ramps and going forward (not reverse). 1st remove the top of LSF and keep info key in your hand. Pat the foot pad to get it going and power it forward up ramps and into car. Then use info key to shut it off and replace top of LSF after leening it down. It fits snug as a bug in a rug in our car. Comes back down the same way, forward (though I have done it in reverse). It's not a problem, just requires thinking it through prior to doing it by yourself.