Engineering:Electric unicycle
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter 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 accelerometers, gyroscopes, and a magnetometer.[1] In 2020, suspension models were introduced by three major manufacturers: Begode, Kingsong and Inmotion.
Operation
Commercial units are self-balancing in a forward and backward direction, with side-to-side (lateral) stability being provided by steering motions that tilt or twist the unit, similar to Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics. The control of a unicycle can be considered to be similar to an inverted pendulum. Early units had a seat, which limited how much the unit could be tilted,[2] but this was resolved with the transition to seatless units that could be tilted much more.[3]
History
Early experimentation
A hand-power monowheel was patented in 1869 by Richard C. Hemming[4] with a pedal-power unit patented in 1885.[5] Various motorized monowheels were developed and demonstrated during the 1930s without commercial success[6] 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.[7] In 1977 Charles Gabriel presented an electric unicycle that resembles the design of today's devices.[8]
Commercialisation
In 2003, Bombardier announced a conceptual design for such a device used as a sport vehicle, the Embrio.[9] In September 2004 Trevor Blackwell demonstrated a functional self-balancing unicycle, using a control-mechanism similar to that used by the Segway PT and published the designs as the Eunicycle.[citation needed] This approach was further refined by a group of engineering students at the University of Adelaide who developed 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.[10]
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.[11][12][13] In Oct 2010 Focus Designs published a video of an electric unicycle with hub motor and a seat.[14] Late in 2015, the Ford Motor Company patented a "self-propelled unicycle engageable with vehicle", intended for last-mile commuters.[15] Segway launched their Ninebot One S1 model 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),[16] 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.[citation needed][clarification needed] In 2020, suspension EUCs were revealed by Inmotion, Kingsong and Gotway.
Suspension
In chronological order, the following suspension-models were released:
As of mid-2023 most high end EUC have between 80 and 100 mm of suspension travel with rare exceptions such as the King Song S22 130 mm .
Popular culture
- A motorized, gyroscopically balanced unicycle was described in 1940 in the story The Roads Must Roll by Robert Heinlein.
- A self-balancing unicycle was described in 1969 in The Man From R.O.B.O.T., a short story by science fiction author Harry Harrison.[20]
Gallery
Device in use
Airwheel with double-wheel
Front view of a solowheel
Traffic sign
Video of unit in use
The Micycle.
Manufacturers
- Begode (previously known as Gotway)[21]
- InMotion[22]
- Inventist[23]
- Kingsong[24]
- Leaperkim [25]
- Rockwheel
- Segway – Ninebot[26]
See also
- Ballbot, a mobile robot designed to balance on a single spherical wheel
- Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
- Electric bicycle
- Honda U3-X, which looks like a self-balancing unicycle, but balances on a powered Omni wheel
- Inertia wheel pendulum
- Onewheel, a sort of electric skateboard
- RIOT wheel, 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 [citation needed]
- Self-balancing unicycle
- Unicycle
- Uno, a sort of dicycle
- Wheel in B.C. (comic strip)
- B.C.'s Quest for Tires
References
- ↑ Ab Ghani, Suliana; Rashid, M.I.M.; Sulaiman, Mohd Herwan; Noor, M.K.M.; Subari, Norazian; Ramli, Noor Lina (2016-04-01). "Self balancing unicycle controlled by using arduino". ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 11 (7): 4239–4244. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305174781.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-CMYiW7fk&t=67s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqoNhGEhk2Y
- ↑ Improvement in velocipede, 1869
- ↑ US Patent 325,548
- ↑ Bierend, Doug (24 March 2014). "One-wheeled motorcycles: As cool as they are wildly dangerous". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/04/monowheels/.
- ↑ US Patent 3,145,797
- ↑ US Patent 4,109,741
- ↑ "Hot Wheel". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/2003/11/04/cx_dl_1104vow.html.
- ↑ Kadis, A., D. Caldecott, A. Edwards, M. Jerbic, R. Madigan, M. Haynes, B. Cazzolato, and Z. Prime (December 2010). "Modelling, simulation and control of an electric unicycle.". Proc. of the 2010 Australasian Conference on Robotics & Automation (ACRA 2010). https://www.araa.asn.au/acra/acra2010/papers/pap149s1-file1.pdf.
- ↑ "Powered single-wheeled self-balancing vehicle for standing user". https://patents.google.com/patent/US8807250.
- ↑ "Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford". Wngadget. 2011-02-11. https://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/solowheel-self-balancing-unicycle-is-as-easy-to-ride-as-it-is-to/.
- ↑ Depp, Ornaldo (2023-10-08). "Top 10 Best Electric Unicycles of 2024 - Ultimate Buying Guide" (in en-US). https://outdoorproductsreview.com/best-electric-unicycles/.
- ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: focusdesigns (2010-10-11), Self Balancing Unicycle (SBU) V2.0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOgTKigxGs, retrieved 2018-10-07
- ↑ Read, Richard (December 29, 2015). "Ford Patent Could Transform Your Car Into A Unicycle". The Car Connection (Internet Brns Automotive Group). http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1101614_ford-patent-could-transform-your-car-into-a-unicycle.
- ↑ "Know this before buying a Veteran Sherman Electric Unicycle" (in en-US). 2 August 2020. https://oneradwheel.com/know-this-before-buying-a-veteran-sherman-electric-unicycle/.
- ↑ "New 31 mph and 3,000W electric unicycle announced with true suspension". Apr 14, 2020. https://electrek.co/2020/04/14/inmotion-v11-electric-unicycle-2000-watts-31-mph/.
- ↑ S18 Suspension Test. Kuji Rolls. Apr 10, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-16
- ↑ The Suspension Trinity is Complete. evX. Oct 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-16
- ↑ ANALOG — Science Fiction/Science Fact, Vol. LXXXIII, No. 5, July 1969, pp. 120-151. Illustrations by Peter Skirka.
- ↑ "Begode". http://www.begode.com/.
- ↑ "Inmotion: About Us". https://www.inmotionworld.com/company/who-we-are.
- ↑ Solowheel
- ↑ "King Song - Redefining Personal Electric Transportation Vehicles". https://www.kingsong.com/.
- ↑ "Leaperkim - Veteran Sherman S". https://www.ewheels.com/product/veteran-sherman-s/.
- ↑ "Segway Z10". https://eu-en.segway.com/products/ninebot-by-segway-z10.
Further reading
- Research papers (in reverse date order)
Daniel R. Gilman "Riding an EUC – From Never-Ever to Expert – A Detailed Written Guide https://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/21537-learn-to-ride-an-euc-a-detailed-written-guide-from-never-ever-to-expert/
- Wu, Junfeng; Zhang, Wanying; Wang, Shengda (26 November 2012). "A Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Robot with the Fuzzy PD Control Method". Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2012: 1–13. doi:10.1155/2012/469491.
- Tomašić, Tomislav; Demetlika, Andrea; Crneković, Mladen (2012). "Self-balancing mobile robot tilter". Transactions of FAMENA. p. 23. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/83116123/self-balancing-mobile-robot-tilter.
- Ruan, Jian-Wei Zhao; Xiao-Gang (1 September 2011). "Modelling and Control of a Flexible Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Mobile Robot". International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications 3 (3): 330–355. doi:10.1504/IJSCC.2011.042438.
- Ben S. Cazzolato, David Keith Caldecott, Andrew John Edwards, Matthew Anthony Haynes, Miroslav Jerbic, Andrew Christopher Kadis and Rhys James J. Madigan Micycle - A Self-Balancing Unicycle, University of Adelaide, 2010
- Johnson, R.C. (2002). "Unicycles and bifurcations". American Journal of Physics 66 (7): 589–92. doi:10.1119/1.19027. http://maths.dur.ac.uk/~dma0rcj/PED/uni.pdf.
- Zenkov, DV; Bloch, AM; Marsden, JE (2001). "The Lyapunov-Malkin Theorem and Stabilization of the Unicycle with Rider". Systems and Control Letters 45 (4): 293–302. doi:10.1016/s0167-6911(01)00187-6. http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~abloch/unistab.ps.
- Zenkov, DV; Bloch, AM; Leonard, NE; Marsden, JE (2000). "Matching and Stabilization of Low-dimensional Nonholonomic Systems". Proc. CDC 39: 1289–1295. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~marsden/bib_src/papers/2000/24-ZeBlLeMa2000/ZeBlLeMa2000.pdf.
- Ulyanov, S. V. (1998). "Soft computing for the intelligent robust control of a robotic unicycle with a new physical measure for mechanical controllability". Soft Computing 2 (2): 73–88. doi:10.1007/s005000050036.
- Sheng, Zaiquan; Yamafuji, Kazuo (1995). "Realization of a human riding a unicycle by a robot". Proceedings of 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2. pp. 1319–1326. doi:10.1109/ROBOT.1995.526027. ISBN 978-0-7803-1965-3.
- A. Schoonwinkel, Design and test of a computer stabilized unicycle Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, California, 1987
- Other
- Flexible two-wheeled self-balancing mobile robot, 9th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control (2009)
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