Segway Idle Sound

[buzzert]

Hey everyone!

I was just curious if anyone knows what it is that makes the idle sound (kind of like a fish tank) on a Segway? From careful observation, it appears to be coming from the gearboxes. It's also worth noting that the sound goes away in security mode. What could this be? The segway surely doesn't have an air cooling system (because the power base is water-tight), and it couldn't be the motors moving rapidly to balance the user, as it makes the sound in standby mode as well.

Hmmm

[Mons1]

Hello do you have a gen 1 seg?
Mine is gen 1 and it sonds like yours, Im told this is the
electronic and gyros ho make this sound!

[segsurfer]

I believe the idling sound you hear in both gen one and two is caused by the gyroscopes...the gyroscopes serve as sensors in the balancing procedure, they aren't activated when the seg isn't in any type of balance modes (IE, security mode) As for the high pitched whine that certain people hear, that is a feature on the gen 2's that was purposefully added to alert blind and deaf people to the presence of a segway, apparently they can sense the frequency emitted by the segway.
hope this helps,
-segsurfer

[Neelix]

Are we talking about the FET (field-effect transistor) noise?

The "running water" sound?

I'm pretty sure that is not the gyros. As far as I know they don't make any noise.

[quade]

Originally Posted by Neelix

I'm pretty sure that is not the gyros. As far as I know they don't make any noise.

Well, none that could be heard by human ears.

Pretty much the only thing the noise could be is the motors.

[cruiter]

Neelix you are correct !!! The sound is not the gyros. They are completly solid state (no rotating wheels). Other than the LSF, Gears, wheels, and motors, there are no other moving parts in the i2. It is electronic noise generated from inside basicly just to let you know it's on. The whine when gliding is the gear whine and sometimes when very slow or balancing you may hear gear teeth chatter. All very normal. If I hear noise, I'm re-assured it's running (just in case my eyes are closed ). There are many posts from a year or so ago with same information. But it's all good.

Come to Atlanta Stone Mountain area for our seg glide on 27 July. Will be a great time and lots of photo opps with the big rock and for those that can spend the night, a great laser light show and music.

Originally Posted by Neelix

Are we talking about the FET (field-effect transistor) noise?

The "running water" sound?

I'm pretty sure that is not the gyros. As far as I know they don't make any noise.

[wwhopper]

And they are very quiet, but it was decided early on they had to make some noise.

So any noise you hear is programmed and does come via the motors.

I bet that noise you are hearing is the noise that was planned so the Segway is not dead quiet.

When you glide, you can hear the gears whine a bit, but it does make that sweeping sound while it is standing still.

Thes sort of sound what you would expect a hovercraft would make in hover mode!

[Gihgehls]

The sound you hear is white noise being mixed into the motor control signal. The purpose of this noise is to cover up the high pitched whines and squeals that electric motors make. Think of a drill motor with the trigger barely pressed down-- It makes a lot of noise.

[scotty1024]

Originally Posted by segsurfer

As for the high pitched whine that certain people hear, that is a feature on the gen 2's that was purposefully added to alert blind and deaf people to the presence of a segway

Wonderful! I was starting to wonder if I needed to take it in and have it looked at. To me it sounds like the fusion reactors on the Starship Enterprise: The Next Generation.

I say that and everyone thinks I'm hearing things.

And yes: I'm legally blind, so it works. Especially when you're standing on it. In which case you're wondering if there is anyway to turn it off.

[Gihgehls]

Originally Posted by segsurfer

As for the high pitched whine that certain people hear, that is a feature on the gen 2's that was purposefully added to alert blind and deaf people to the presence of a segway, apparently they can sense the frequency emitted by the segway.
hope this helps,
-segsurfer

That doesn't make any sense. I think someone lied to you. First, gen1 and gen2 motors and main electronics are identical; the only new sound-related feature on gen2 is that all the sounds are made by the motors. Second, Segway's engineers wouldn't add a safety feature that only "certain people" could hear, at the top of the range of human hearing. Not all blind people have superman ears. I am 25 years old and have excellent hearing, and must struggle to hear the high pitched whine of the motors. Lastly, how could a sound so difficult to hear be useful to deaf people? Sorry, Segsurfer, but this doesn't make sense at all.

Edit: we may have been talking about different things here. Are you talking about the noisy "running water" sound, or are you talking about the high-pitched squeals that sound like a busted television?