Segway
The Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen and brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, subsequently as the Segway PT, and manufactured by Segway Inc. ''HT'' is an initialism for "human transporter" and ''PT'' for "personal transporter." Ninebot, a Beijing-based transportation robotics startup rival, acquired Segway Inc. in April 2015, broadened the company to include other transportation devices, and announced in June 2020 it would no longer make a two-wheeled, self-balancing product. History Independent company The Segway PT, referred to during development and initial marketing as the Segway HT, was developed from the self-balancing iBOT wheelchair which was initially developed at University of Plymouth, in conjunction with BAE Systems and Sumitomo Precision Products. Segway's first patent was filed in 1994 and granted in 1997, followed by others, including one submitted in June 1999 and granted in October 2001. Prior t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Personal Transporter
A personal transporter (also powered transporter, electric rideable, personal light electric vehicle, personal mobility device, etc.) is any of a class of compact, mostly recent (21st century), motorised micromobility vehicle for transporting an individual at speeds that do not normally exceed . They include electric skateboards, kick scooters, self-balancing unicycles and Segways, as well as gasoline-fueled motorised scooters or skateboards, typically using two-stroke engines of less than displacement. Many newer versions use recent advances in vehicle battery and motor-control technologies. They are growing in popularity, and legislators are in the process of determining how these devices should be classified, regulated and accommodated during a period of rapid innovation. Generally excluded from this legal category are electric bicycles (that are considered to be a type of bicycle); electric motorbikes and scooters (that are treated as a type of motorcycle or moped); a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Segway Inc
Segway Inc. is a Chinese owned, formerly American manufacturer of two-wheeled personal transporters, chiefly through its Segway PT and Segway miniPro product lines. Founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1999, the company's name is a homophone of the word "segue". Segway Inc. was headquartered in the U.S. state of New Hampshire and primarily marketed its products to various niche markets, including police departments, military bases, warehouses, corporate campuses, and industrial sites. It has held some key patents on designs for self-balancing personal transporters, although some of them have since expired. Since the Chinese company Ninebot acquired it in 2015, Segway has focused on developing a stronger presence in the consumer market with smaller products such as the Segway miniPro. History Origins The first patent by Dean Kamen for a self-balancing transportation device was filed on February 23, 1993, and granted on December 30, 1997, in relation to the iBOT, a self-balancin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Segway Police Sweden
The Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen and brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, subsequently as the Segway PT, and manufactured by Segway Inc. ''HT'' is an initialism for "human transporter" and ''PT'' for "personal transporter." Ninebot, a Beijing-based transportation robotics startup rival, acquired Segway Inc. in April 2015, broadened the company to include other transportation devices, and announced in June 2020 it would no longer make a two-wheeled, self-balancing product. History Independent company The Segway PT, referred to during development and initial marketing as the Segway HT, was developed from the self-balancing iBOT wheelchair which was initially developed at University of Plymouth, in conjunction with BAE Systems and Sumitomo Precision Products. Segway's first patent was filed in 1994 and granted in 1997, followed by others, including one submitted in June 1999 and granted in October 2001. Prior to i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jimi Heselden
James William "Jimi" Heselden OBE (27 March 1948 – 26 September 2010) was a British entrepreneur. A former coal miner, Heselden became wealthy by manufacturing the Hesco bastion barrier system. In 2009, he bought Segway Inc., maker of the Segway personal transport system. Heselden died in 2010 from injuries apparently sustained falling from a cliff while riding his own product. His estate, bequeathed to his widow and family, was worth over £340 million and he was ranked in the top 400 members of the '' Sunday Times Rich List''. Early life Heselden grew up in the Halton Moor district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. At the age of 15, Heselden left Osmondthorpe Secondary Modern School to work as a labourer and then at collieries in Temple Newsam and Lofthouse. He lost his job in the wave of redundancies that followed the 1984–85 miners' strike and spent his redundancy money on renting a workshop and, at first, setting up a sandblasting business. He then work ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dean Kamen
Dean Lawrence Kamen (born April 5, 1951) is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is known for his invention of the Segway and iBOT, as well as founding the non-profit organization FIRST with Woodie Flowers. Kamen holds over 1,000 patents. Early life and family Kamen was born on Long Island, New York, to a Jewish family. His father was Jack Kamen, an illustrator for '' Mad'', ''Weird Science'' and other EC Comics publications. During his teenage years, Kamen was already being paid for his ideas; local bands and museums paid him to build light and sound systems. His annual earnings reached $60,000 before his high school graduation. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but in 1976 dropped out before graduating, after five years of private advanced research for the insulin pump AutoSyringe. Career Inventions Kamen is best known for inventing the product that eventually became known as the Segway PT, an electric, self-balancing human transporter wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dicycle (vehicle)
A dicycle () (also known as a diwheel) is a vehicle with two parallel wheels, side by side, unlike single-track vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles, which have two wheels inline. Originally used to refer to devices with large wheels and pedals, the term is now used in relation to powered self-balancing scooters with smaller wheels and no pedals such as the Segway PT and the self-balancing hoverboard. Etymology In more recent usage, "dicycle" has been used for both pedaled and motorised vehicles with wheels of varying sizes, as long as they share a common axis, though not necessarily a common axle. In 2017, the Merriam-Webster's dictionary, limited usage to 'velocipedes with two parallel wheels,' and the Oxford English Dictionary limited it to 'pedal-powered vehicles with large wheels placed parallel to each other'. Examples Segway PT The Segway PT is a two-wheeled self-balancing personal transporter which uses computers, sensors, and electric motors to keep the device ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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IBOT
The iBOT is a powered wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen in a partnership between DEKA and Johnson & Johnson's Independence Technology division. History Development of the iBOT started in 1990 with the first working prototypes available in 1992. In late 1994, DEKA signed a deal with Johnson & Johnson to manufacture the unit, with Johnson & Johnson paying for all subsequent R&D with DEKA receiving a smaller royalty fee than they normally would in return for their retaining rights to all non-medical applications of the technology. Much of the manufacturing work for what was then a very secretive "Project FRED" was done at an SCI (Now Sanmina SCI) plant in Lacy's Spring, Alabama near SCI's corporate headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama. SCI was partnered with Criticon (Johnson & Johnson medical devices) to do development and manufacturing. Development of the iBOT was conducted at DEKA in Manchester, NH. The iBOT was revealed to the public on Dateline NBC in a segment by John Hockenb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Entity (South Park)
"The Entity" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the animated television series '' South Park'', and 76th episode of the series overall. "The Entity" originally aired in the United States on November 21, 2001 on Comedy Central. This episode introduces Kyle's cousin Kyle. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have stated the story was inspired by the Segway PT and the general chaotic nature of airports at the time of the production, shortly following 9/11 and the 2001 airline bailout. In the episode, Kyle's cousin Kyle, who is stereotypically Jewish, comes to South Park for a visit. Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison comes up with a "more pleasant" alternative to airline travel, known as "IT." Plot Kyle's cousin, Kyle Schwartz from Connecticut, comes to live in South Park due to his mother's failing health back at home. While Kyle was initially excited about seeing his cousin for the first time, he is baffled to see that his cousin is none other than a stereotyped version of a J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brushless DC Electric Motor
A brushless DC electric motor (BLDC motor or BL motor), also known as an electronically commutated motor (ECM or EC motor) or synchronous DC motor, is a synchronous motor using a direct current (DC) electric power supply. It uses an electronic controller to switch DC currents to the motor windings producing magnetic fields which effectively rotate in space and which the permanent magnet rotor follows. The controller adjusts the phase and amplitude of the DC current pulses to control the speed and torque of the motor. This control system is an alternative to the mechanical commutator (brushes) used in many conventional electric motors. The construction of a brushless motor system is typically similar to a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), but can also be a switched reluctance motor, or an induction (asynchronous) motor. They may also use neodymium magnets and be outrunners (the stator is surrounded by the rotor), inrunners (the rotor is surrounded by the stator ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Regenerative Braking
Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction motor uses the vehicle's momentum to recover energy that would otherwise be lost to the brake discs as heat. This method contrasts with conventional braking systems. In those systems, the excess kinetic energy is converted to unwanted and wasted heat due to friction in the brakes, or with rheostatic brakes, where the energy is recovered by using electric motors as generators but is immediately dissipated as heat in resistors. In addition to improving the overall efficiency of the vehicle, regeneration can significantly extend the life of the braking system as the mechanical parts will not wear out quickly. General principle The most common form of regenerative brake involves an electric motor functioning as an electric generator. In ele ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |