
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing
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 ...
with a
single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the unit side to side. The self-balancing mechanism uses
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...
s and
gyroscope
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining Orientation (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...
s. Most manufacturers of EUCs are based out of China, including Segway, Inmotion, Kingsong, Begode, and Leaperkim.
Operation
Similar to
hoverboards,
Onewheel
Onewheel is a self-balancing electric skateboard with a single tire, used as a means of transportation and for boardsports. Riders place their feet on either side of the tire to face sideways, leaning forward to accelerate and leaning backward to ...
s, and
Segway
A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter device invented by Dean Kamen. The name is a registered trademark of Segway Inc. It was brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, and then subsequently as the Segway PT. ''HT ...
s, electric unicycles are self-balancing in a forward and backward direction, with side-to-side (lateral) stability being provided by human steering motions that tilt or twist the unit, similar to
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles and their components, due to the forces acting on them. Dynamics falls under a branch of physics known as classical mechanics. Bike motions of interest inc ...
. The control of a unicycle can be considered to be similar to an
inverted pendulum
An inverted pendulum is a pendulum that has its center of mass above its Lever, pivot point. It is unstable equilibrium, unstable and falls over without additional help. It can be suspended stably in this inverted position by using a control s ...
. Many electric unicycles have suspension, either operated by air or springs.
Electric unicycles come in varying speeds, battery capacities, and motor wattages. Low-end models may have speeds up to 15 mph and ranges of 10–15 miles, while advanced models being introduced in 2024 can reach 60 mph and over 100 miles per charge.
History
Early experimentation
A hand-power
monowheel
A monowheel or uniwheel is a type of one-wheeled, single-track vehicle. Unlike the unicycle, a monowheel consists of a large, hollow wheel that loops above and around the driver. Monowheels are typically powered by an engine as with a motorc ...
was patented in 1869 by Richard C. Hemming with a pedal-power unit patented in 1885. Various motorized monowheels were developed and demonstrated during the 1930s without commercial success and
Charles F Taylor was granted a patent for a "vehicle having a single supporting and driving wheel" in 1964 after some 25 years of experimentation. In 1977 Charles Gabriel presented an electric unicycle that resembles the design of today's devices.
Commercialisation
In 2003,
Bombardier announced a conceptual design for such a device used as a sport vehicle, the Embrio. In September 2004
Trevor Blackwell
Trevor Blackwell (born 4 November 1969, in Canada) is a Canadian-American computer programmer, engineer, entrepreneur and roboticist based in England.
Blackwell is a developer of humanoid robots. Blackwell is the founder and former CEO of Anyb ...
demonstrated a functional self-balancing unicycle, using a control-mechanism similar to that used by the
Segway PT
A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter device invented by Dean Kamen. The name is a registered trademark of Segway Inc. It was brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, and then subsequently as the Segway PT. ''HT ...
and published the designs as the Eunicycle. This approach was further refined by a group of engineering students at the University of Adelaide who develope
The Micycle which incorporated a hub-motor, a Lithium-Ion Battery and a novel steering mechanism where the wheel pivoted independent of the main chassis.

Early units had a seat, which limited how much the unit could be tilted, but this was resolved with the transition to seatless units that could be tilted much more. In March 2010
Shane Chen of Inventist filed a patent application for a seatless electric unicycle (associated with the "Solowheel" product launched in February 2011), which uses flat pedals to stand on and leg contact surfaces to allow for stable, precise control in lieu of a seat. In Oct 2010 Focus Designs published a video of an electric unicycle with hub motor and a seat.
Late in 2015, the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
patented a "self-propelled unicycle engageable with vehicle", intended for last-mile commuters. Segway launched thei
Ninebot One S1model in November 2017.

By the turn of the decade, several Chinese manufacturers dominate the market and continue to release EUC models with higher top speeds (above 75 km/h or 46 mph), and longer range batteries.
Popularity came around the same time as Begode (formerly known as Gotway) released their M super line. This evolved into the MSX & MSP models and eventually into the RS model. Around this time Veteran stepped on to the scene for the first time with their road wheel the Sherman. In 2020, suspension EUCs were revealed b
InmotionKingsongand Gotway. After suspension, companies began to work on higher speeds and motor voltages.
Popular culture
* A motorized, gyroscopically balanced unicycle was described in 1940 in the short story "
The Roads Must Roll
"The Roads Must Roll" is a 1940 science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was selected for ''The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964'' anthology in 1970.
The story is set in the near future, when "ro ...
" by
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...
.
* A self-balancing unicycle was described in 1969 in "The Man From R.O.B.O.T.", a short story by
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
author
Harry Harrison.
Gallery
File:Boy riding Solowheel.jpg, Device in use
File:Airwheel-Q5.jpg, Airwheel with double-wheel
File:Solowheel front.jpg, Front view of a solowheel
File:Italian traffic sign-inizio percorso monowheel.svg, Traffic sign
File:Self-balancing Unicycle.ogv, Video of unit in use
File:Micycle Long Exposure.jpg, The Micycle
Manufacturers
* Begode (previously known as Gotway)
* InMotion
*
Inventist
* Kingsong
* Leaperkim
* Rockwheel
*
Segway – Ninebot
See also
*
Ballbot, a mobile robot designed to balance on a single spherical wheel
*
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles and their components, due to the forces acting on them. Dynamics falls under a branch of physics known as classical mechanics. Bike motions of interest inc ...
*
Electric bicycle
An electric bicycle, e-bike, electrically assisted pedal cycle, or electrically power assisted cycle is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fa ...
*
Honda U3-X, which looks like a self-balancing unicycle, but balances on a powered
Omni wheel
*
Inertia wheel pendulum
*
Onewheel
Onewheel is a self-balancing electric skateboard with a single tire, used as a means of transportation and for boardsports. Riders place their feet on either side of the tire to face sideways, leaning forward to accelerate and leaning backward to ...
, a sort of
electric skateboard
An electric skateboard is a personal transporter based on a skateboard. The speed is usually controlled by a wireless hand-held throttle remote, or rider body weight-shifting between front of the board for forward motion and rear for braking. As ...
*
RIOT wheel
A RIOT wheel is a one-wheeled vehicle, or monowheel. A motor and counterweight are housed inside a giant wheel, while the driver sits on a platform that extends out in front of the device. This is in contrast to the more typical monowheels and th ...
, a ridable single-axis self-balancing unicycle with an unusually low centre of gravity, with its rider in front of, rather than on top of its single wheel
*
Self-balancing unicycle
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a unicycle, single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the uni ...
*
Unicycle
A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a frame with a saddle, and has a pedal-driven direct-drive. A two speed hub is commercially available for faster unicycling. Unicycling is prac ...
*
Uno, a sort of
dicycle
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 ped ...
* Wheel in
B.C. (comic strip)
**
B.C.'s Quest for Tires
References
Further reading
;Research papers (in reverse date order):
Daniel R. Gilman "Riding an EUC – From Never-Ever to Expert – A Detailed Written Guid
Learn To Ride An EUC - A Detailed Written Guide - From Never-Ever To Expert*
*
*
* Ben S. Cazzolato, David Keith Caldecott, Andrew John Edwards, Matthew Anthony Haynes, Miroslav Jerbic, Andrew Christopher Kadis and Rhys James J. Madiga
Micycle - A Self-Balancing Unicycle University of Adelaide, 2010
*
*
*
*
*
* A. Schoonwinkel
Design and test of a computer stabilized unicyclePh.D. dissertation, Stanford University, California, 1987
{{Commons category, Motorized unicycles
;Other
9th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control (2009)
External links
The Electric Unicycle
Electric vehicles
Cycle types
Unicycling
Personal transporters