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Segway General Discussion General discussion related to any model of Segways, miniPROs, or Ninebots. Please do not post non-Segway technology posts here; use the technology forum instead.

Old 02-16-2017, 01:13 PM   #1
Pescador12
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Default Gotchas on a segway or mini pro

We are letting people try the Mini Pro if they are interested. What are the gotchas we should warn a new person about? I know the "don't turn while reversing" one. But have forgotten to mention it when someone new tried it.

Two of my wife's friends have managed to get a wheel trying to drive up their pants leg. Fortunately it is a little guy so no damage was done beside the tire tracks.

At a coffee shop, that I walked the Mini Pro into with its hand stick, I offered to let a pilot in uniform try it. We discussed how easy it was to control, then I offered to let him see for himself. He laughed and said no as he couldn't risk the injury right before a flight.

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Old 02-17-2017, 01:04 PM   #2
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Probably smart of him!

You can Google and watch videos of all sorts of famous people who have taken a tumble off a Seg - In the book 'Code Name Ginger' I think they mention that President George W Bush tried out the prototype before they were available for sale and it tossed him. There's also a video of him taking a tumble when riding one of the ones his father owned

I always explain to first time riders that it's a computer controlling the rotation of both wheels. So long as the computer is free to move both of the wheels in any direction it wants to, all is fine - It will self balance. Most falls happen when something blocks the motion of a wheel - The computer can't get the wheel to move where it needs it to move to maintain balance and down you go!

So, when you come near anything which could block a wheel, slow down to a crawl and navigate carefully. Then if you do go down, you can hopefully just step off and not get thrown off

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Old 02-17-2017, 08:54 PM   #3
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Good point about the stopped wheel. I saw a video where a police officer was in a line of officers on segways riding down the shoulder of a road.. He clipped the curb and was done.

There is a video of a guy swinging forward and back on one. I think he goes down because he eventually turned during the reverse. It is hard to see what happened. Then the segway powers him, while collapsed on the platform, a few feet across the patio and into a wall.

Those wrecks make sense.
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Old 02-18-2017, 12:21 PM   #4
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I think the 'Don't turn while reversing' advice is more to keep from confusing the rider and not a describing a limit of the Seg's capabilities in any way. I make turns while backing all the time, but only at low speeds - Trying it while going faster throws off your sense of balance (yours, not the Seg's) because staying centered on the platform is difficult when the Seg moves in the opposite direction your brain is expecting from the control input you gave

I haven't tried it but I think if you stood on the Seg backwards and you could retrain your brain to steer in opposite directions, you could ride a Seg in reverse just as well as you can in forward - Kinda like riding the 'reverse bicycle'



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Old 02-19-2017, 05:48 PM   #5
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Very slow reverse speeds while concentrating might work to turn.

My Mini Pro has the control bar between my knees. Turning while reversing throws my weight against the bar and cascades the problem. It turns tighter and tighter as I get thrown to the outside. Not good.


I try to remember to tell people that the bar controls where the nose goes on a differential steered machine. And that they should pivot 180 in place and then go since it is easier than turning while reversing.
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