Segway Human Transporter

What was once a mysterious invention created by Dean Kamen that had everyone speculating as to what it was - is now known as the Segway Human Transporter, the first self-balancing, electric-powered transportation machine. The Segway Human Transporter is a personal transport device that uses five gyroscopes and a built-in computer to remain upright.

The Unveiling

It was unveiled to the public on December 3, 2001 in Bryant Park (NYC) on the ABC News morning program Good Morning America.

The first Segway Human Transporter used no brakes and did a nifty 12 mph. The speed and direction (including stopping) were controlled by the rider shifting weight and a manual turning mechanism on one of the handlebars. The initial public demonstrations showed that the Segway could travel smoothly across pavement, gravel, grass, and small obstacles.

Dynamic Stabilization

Dean Kamen's team developed a breakthrough technology the company termed "Dynamic Stabilization," which is the essence of the Segway. Dynamic Stabilization enables Segway self-balancing emulation to work seamlessly with the body's movements. Gyroscopes and tilt sensors in the Segway HT monitor a user's center of gravity about 100 times a second. When a person leans slightly forward, the Segway HT moves forward. When leaning back, the Segway moves back. One battery charge (cost of ten cents) lasts 15 miles and the 65-pound Segway HT can run over your toes without causing you harm.

The United States Postal Service, the National Park Service and the City of Atlanta field tested the invention. The consumer was able to buy the Segway in the year 2003 at the initial cost of $3,000.

Segway produced three distinct initial models: the i-series, the e-series, and the p-series. However, in 2006 Segway discontinued all previous models and announced their second-generation designs; i2 and x2, that also allowed users to steer by leaning the handlebars to the right or left, which matched the leaning forward and backward to accelerate and decelerate.

How Segways Work

At first glance, this device (called the Segway^TM Human Transporter) doesn't seem all that remarkable -- it looks like a high-tech scooter. But people who have tried it out claim that it is much, much more -- a completely different way to get around.

Dean Kamen, the machine's inventor, held especially high hopes for the Segway. In an interview with Time Magazine, he claimed that his machine "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy."

Although the Segway hasn't quite lived up to its hype, it's most definitely an amazing machine. In this article, we'll find out what sets the Segway apart from earlier vehicles, and we'll see why its inventor thought it could change the world.

When Dean Kamen unveiled the Segway on ABC's "Good Morning America," he described the machine as "the world's first self-balancing human transporter." When you look at the machine in motion, you get an idea of what he's talking about.

Unlike a car, the Segway only has two wheels -- it looks something like an ordinary hand truck -- yet it manages to stay upright by itself.

To move forward or backward on the Segway, the rider just leans slightly forward or backward. To turn left or right, the rider turns the right handlebar forward or backward.

This balancing act is the most amazing thing about the Segway, and it is the key to its operation. To understand how this system works, it helps to consider Kamen's model for the device -- the human body.

If you stand up and lean forward, so that you are out of balance, you probably won't fall on your face. Your brain knows you are out of balance, because fluid in your inner ear shifts, so it triggers you to put your leg forward and stop the fall. If you keep leaning forward, your brain will keep putting your legs forward to kee­p you upright. Instead of falling, you walk forward, one step at a time.

The Segway does pretty much the same thing, except it has wheels instead of legs, a motor instead of muscles, a collection of microprocessors instead of a brain and a set of sophisticated tilt sensors instead of an inner-ear balancing system. Like your brain, the Segway knows when you are leaning forward. To maintain balance, it turns the wheels at just the right speed, so you move forward.

Impact

The impacts of segway human transporter are, people in the world will easy to go to everywhere. People don’t need to walk again. We can use segway to go everywhere. People in the world will choose segway if the safety of segway is trusted. Because the safety of segway is not trusted. A person who use segway must practice first. Because it needs a ability.

Positive Argument

Segway Human Transporter make people easily to go everywhere. We don’t need a lot of money to buy fuel for car.

Negative Argument

It was unsafe. Because if we can’t use it properly, we may fall down and die like the first inventor of this segway human transoporter.