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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 04-14-2021, 03:40 AM   #1
Philip
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Default Segway's hydrogen-powered Apex H2 sports bike

Last week Segway-Ninebot announced a hydrogen fuel cell-powered street sportsbike concept called the Apex H2. The release has been grabbing a lot of media headlines around the world.

Here is a link to my article about the Apex H2 at Segway NZ News. It draws on several press releases for information about the Apex H2, and also provides some context with info about 2019's original Apex prototype. I actually got to see and sit on this bike at Segway-Ninebot HQ in Beijing in 2019, and at the end of the article I've included a series of photographs that I took of the Apex.

I also discuss Segway's involvement with the four-times winner of the Isle of Man TT Zero electric motorbike competition 2010-2013.

Oh, and I squeeze in a mention of Segway's secret 'Steeldust' project from some 15 years ago. If anyone else on SegwayChat has anything more to share about Steeldust, I for one would be very interested....

https://segwaynz.wordpress.com/2021/...rbike-concept/
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Old 04-14-2021, 02:24 PM   #2
Civicsman
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Default @Philip

The post says Steeldust was "some 15 years ago", which would have put it around 2005-2006. However, the linked article says steeldust was developed in the mid-1990s. As far as I can tell, Segway didn't exist until about mid-1999. If it was prior to that, it was probably Dean Kamen's DEKA.

I visited the Segway HQ/factory several times from 2004-2006 as an engineering liaison, working with engineers and senior management, developing LeanSteer for the I2/X2. I toured the factory and engineering areas (including the prototype area for I2 and the 4-wheel Centaur) and never saw a motorcycle. However, Segway was always highly secretive, so not seeing Steeldust might not be too surprising. If anyone on this forum knows anything about Steeldust, it would likely be SC moderator JohnG, who worked at Segway for some years.

I also thought it was interesting that the photo in the linked article shows a PUMA with "Segway-Ninebot" painted on the front. Legally, a new owner can do that, but it seems to suggest that Ninebot had some part in developing the PUMA...which it didn't. Why would Ninebot stick their name on the PUMA, after so many years, and with no further product development? To me, that would be like putting the name "Douglas-Boeing" on a DC-3. PUMA was demonstrated in 2009, LONG before Ninebot involvement.
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Old 04-15-2021, 07:30 AM   #3
Philip
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Default

Thanks for your comments, Civicsman. The date of "mid-1990s" was a typo on my behalf, and I've corrected my article.

Centaur was ~2004, and Steeldust was being discussed for a period sometime during the mid-to-late 2000 period. My recollection is that at the time quite a few of the Segway Dealers/Distributors were pretty enthusiastic about the potential for both of these concepts, hoping for another groundbreaking product to expand our PT businesses. Personally, I was excited about Centaur.

With hindsight, I doubt development on Steeldust got very far. Segway, Inc. was running down on cash, not enough people were buying PTs, and then the GFC came along to kill off the proposed IPO. I've been told there were a great many secret "frog kissing" projects researched deep within Segway, Inc. behind the red door. Who knows what might have been, had history unfolded a little differently?

The first 5 years of the "Segway Story(tm)" have been fairly well documented in the public domain, between the Project Ginger book and the various media articles of the time. But it seems to me that so many of the interesting details about the next half decade are rapidly being lost in the fog of time.

For PUMA enthusiasts, I took a number of close-up photos of the prototype. Several more of these appear in the following article:

https://segwaynz.wordpress.com/2020/...m-a-prototype/

Within the article above is a link to the Stanley Innovation page that mentions a "mini-PUMA" and this in turn has a link to a nifty animation comparing "leaning" (PT) versus "sliding" (PUMA/S-Pod) rider masses atop a self-balancing platform. Perhaps a reason to add the Segway-Ninebot name to the PUMA prototype might have been to link it with the more recent S-Pod prototype (which is also a 'sliding mass' concept)?
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