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This is basically a unicycle with a gyroscopic wheel, so you don't fall down, and handlebars. You ride it standing up.
The benefit of this is that it has a smaller profile and weighs less, so you can carry it into the office and so forth without banging it into walls.
There's some magic in the
gears so that when you start turning the pedals, it charges up the gyroscope. Then, after some threshold, it engages and you start turning the wheel.
Gyrostabilized Unicycle
Gyrostabilized_20Unicycle
[xaviergisz, Jul 06 2010]
Hybrid Dicycle
Hybrid_20Dicycle
see comments by BunsenHoneydew and goldbb [xaviergisz, Jul 06 2010]
Another approach
Orb-it
A classic by FJ [RayfordSteele, Jul 06 2010]
Gyro Bike
http://www.thegyrobike.com/
This is a real product on the market -- a bike with a gyroscopic wheel. Marketed towards kids as an alternative to training wheels. [lawpoop, Jul 06 2010]
ryno motors unicycle - finally baked.
http://www.youtube....nxU&feature=related
[pashute, Oct 15 2012]
Self-balancing unicycle
http://en.wikipedia...-balancing_unicycle
Trevor Blackwell's 'Eunicycle' [Steamboat, Oct 20 2012]
solowheel
http://solowheel.com/
[xaviergisz, Feb 01 2013]
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I need a visual. Meantime + |
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likey... I assume the gyroscope is for power only |
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So this is essentially a pedal driven version of the self stabilising powered unicycle, which is now baked. |
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It would need some kind of tripod arrangement to allow the rider to spin up the gyro before the thing became stable. |
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A gyro alone won't give stability. What is needed is a mechanism whereby the pedals drive the gyro (flywheel) and a balance mechanism (on the most basic level, a pendulum) uses flywheel momentum to drive the wheel forward or backward, and to turn a counterweight to provide directional control. |
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I.e. take the current powered unicycle design, remove motor and add pedals. |
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Since the flywheel would need enough momentum to maintain authority over the riders mass, it would need to be heavy or highly geared to run fast, requiring an 'input' gearbox in addition to the wheel driving 'output' gearbox. |
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It would probably end up too heavy to be powered by the rider - but don't let a trivial detail like that put you off. |
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The gyroscope is meant for balance, to keep the whole unit upright. That way you don't need traditional unicycle skills to ride it. Anyone who could ride a bike could ride it. |
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I posted a link to an existing bike on the market that uses a gyroscopic wheel. |
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I freely admit that I am not an engineer, so I don't know how much weight or complexity it would add to the gears. |
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The gyro alone will only help to maintain lateral balance, and then only when moving forward. It will do nothing to stop the unicycle from toppling forward or backward, as it cannot exert any moment about it's own axis. You can test this easily - remove the front wheel from your bicycle, hold it with one hand on each end of the spindle and get it spinning (probably need help from a freind). See how it responds to attempts to move it about different axes. |
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I think I'll stick with a Yikebike. |
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@Twizz -- so you'd need another wheel at a 180* angle to the direction of the bike to keep it from toppling forward or back? |
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Maybe if there were one about midway up, so that it doesn't obstruct the motion of the legs. |
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"Gyro Bike" patented? We should challenge that
patent. |
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I'm not sure the GyroBike method would work for a unicycle: given the rider is probably already a bicycle rider, it would be redundant with reflexes already learned. |
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//so you'd need another wheel at a 180* angle to the direction of the bike to keep it from toppling forward or back? // |
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No. A gyro mounted in the YZ plane (I assume you mean 90°) would give undesired effects. Again, you could try the effects of two spinning wheels at 90° to each other. |
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A gyro rotates about it's own axis and if rotated about a second axis, it will generate a force about a third axis, perpendicular to the first two. |
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Since the gyro only generates rotational force (moment) it cannot keep the unicycle upright unless the whole assembly is rotating. |
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If you don't want to get very dizzy, you need to adapt the system to translate the moment to a linear force, by driving the wheel. |
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If you want a small, light cycle that doesn't require unicycle skills, get a folding bike--the name Moulton comes to mind. This idea's design effectively takes the front wheel off a bike and stuffs it inside somewhere, somehow, with an added magic gear train and enough extra added weight to act as a gyro. It isn't going to be an improvement on a bike, however Halfbakery-worthy it might seem. |
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A standard unicycle isn't that hard to learn to ride, just painful and pointless. And painful and pointless to ride, too, and bloody slow--"the great thing about a uni is that if it breaks down and you have to walk, you get there faster". |
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But a unicycle is very, very simple to make and to maintain--I have a disassembled one behind me right now, and could have it rideable in half an hour, easy--and it is easy to operate and to transport. |
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This idea is heavier and more complex than a standard unicycle, and the operation isn't as simple as it may seem... what's with the handlebars? Do they help steer? How? [ ] |
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Blinky Blimey, Lawpoop! Where you been? |
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+ I hope I understand this. It should turn right or left at a flick of a wrist, no? |
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Seems to me this would be easiest with motor-
generators in the pedals, road wheel and flywheel. |
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Spare energy can get stored in the flywheel. |
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The forward/backward balance issue would be
taken care of by a Segway/Eunicycle type control
system applied to the road wheel, taking power
from the flywheel or pedals. |
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It should be designed not to go backwards except
briefly for balancing, or the flywheel would make it
less stable rather than more. |
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It would be easier to use if you didn't have to
pedal standing up, or balance on it before the
flywheel was spun up. |
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Baked years ago; Google "Trevor Blackwell" |
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I'd be wondering at what point in the development process he started calling it a "Eunicycle". |
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Probably a little after he started dating Eunice. |
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