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What’s stopping this product from having a similar recall to OneWheel? When the battery dies the software isn’t able to acc/decelerate the wheels to counterbala

by wyre 4y ago

What’s stopping this product from having a similar recall to OneWheel? When the battery dies the software isn’t able to acc/decelerate the wheels to counterbalance the user leading causing them to fall and likely injure themselves. However, the Moonwalkers require the user to strap in their feet increasing the chances of injury because they cannot separate themselves from the device. The only place I can see this having more value than an e-bike or scooter would be in an airport.

teawrecks 4y ago
In theory you could make the system refuse to start moving when the battery is less than 8%, and demand to come to a safe stop when under 4% or something like that. For all I know, that's already what it does.
LarryMullins 4y ago
The OneWheel nosedives into the ground when it dies, which stops it fast. Presuming these behave the same when dying as they do when braking, it seems like the user should be able to compensate for it.
- actionfromafar 4y ago
  That sounds dangerous?
  - LarryMullins 4y ago
    The OneWheel is, certainly. When it nosedives it stops instantly. When when these moon shoes brake, they stop in about a meter. If they die the same way they brake, it might not be totally safe but it should be much safer than the OneWheel. Also if the user is already going through the motions of walking, they might be in a better place mentally to catch themselves.. relative to the onewheel, where both their feet are planted in the moment right before the fall. This said, I'd still want to wear a helmet while testing these.
teeray 4y ago
Maybe something similar to an airbrake? Some kind of light friction brake held out of the way by an electromagnet… you could also have it engage on a watchdog failure too.
nabilhat 4y ago
I do think failure modes related to skateboards and plain roller/inline/ice skates are more likely. Ask any skateboarder about The Pebble of Death - it's surprising how such tiny obstacles can instantly stop small hard wheels carrying a lot of weight! Also, proper foot-mounted skates come with strong ankle support for good reason; the added weight and applied leverage are at least fatiguing, sometimes dangerous. And that's unpowered skates - how much more weight do a motor, battery, drivetrain (the reduction is clearly audible in that Wired video...), and additional wheels add? That's my biggest red flag. Skates strapped to whatever random shoe that users from the full spectrum of agility and fitness are wearing looks a lot like a liability mine field.
- Retric 4y ago
  These things are far slower than roller skating and assuming the get the software right more stable via 10 independently powered wheels. Running one into an obstacle like a curve shouldn’t be that hard to recover from. Much like stepping off of a moving walkway, though with really heavy shoes on.
- asdff 4y ago
  For skateboarding if you get slightly larger and softer wheels you can go over all sorts of sticks and stones. I ride ricta clouds. Longboards also have no problem because their wheels are even bigger and softer. It would take a bigger rock that would be pretty hard to miss to eat it with those sorts of wheels.
  - 4ggr0 4y ago
    A couple of years ago I found a pile of skate boards (so, only the boards) in the trash and took them. During the pandemic I felt like making a full skateboard out of one of them. I knew that I would not be doing any tricks, so I bought Shark Wheels and all the other things a skateboard needs, paid around $150 for everything, I think. The third time I went out with it a pedestrian unexpectedly turned around on their heels, I maneuvered around but the wheels touched a wall, causing me to fly off and land on both of my palms. Went to the nearest pharmacy, they removed the pebbles from my hand, sanitized it etc., but it was pretty bloody. Now I have a pretty cool scar on one on my hands. Didn't touch the skateboard again, think I'll stick to walking :') (No, of course I wasn't wearing a helmet or pads...) Anyways, I lost track of what I wanted to say - The shark wheels indeed helped a ton, was never stopped by a pebble or stick in the ~1 hour I used them.
amscanne 4y ago
I don't think they need to counterbalance? It seems like they would just turn into very expensive, very bad roller skates when the battery dies. (They may still be dangerous, as roller skates can be, but much less than something that needs power to stop it from nosediving.)

by wyre 4y ago

teawrecks 4y ago

In theory you could make the system refuse to start moving when the battery is less than 8%, and demand to come to a safe stop when under 4% or something like that. For all I know, that's already what it does.

LarryMullins 4y ago

The OneWheel nosedives into the ground when it dies, which stops it fast. Presuming these behave the same when dying as they do when braking, it seems like the user should be able to compensate for it.

actionfromafar 4y ago
That sounds dangerous?
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  The OneWheel is, certainly. When it nosedives it stops instantly. When when these moon shoes brake, they stop in about a meter. If they die the same way they brake, it might not be totally safe but it should be much safer than the OneWheel. Also if the user is already going through the motions of walking, they might be in a better place mentally to catch themselves.. relative to the onewheel, where both their feet are planted in the moment right before the fall. This said, I'd still want to wear a helmet while testing these.

teeray 4y ago

Maybe something similar to an airbrake? Some kind of light friction brake held out of the way by an electromagnet… you could also have it engage on a watchdog failure too.

nabilhat 4y ago

I do think failure modes related to skateboards and plain roller/inline/ice skates are more likely. Ask any skateboarder about The Pebble of Death - it's surprising how such tiny obstacles can instantly stop small hard wheels carrying a lot of weight! Also, proper foot-mounted skates come with strong ankle support for good reason; the added weight and applied leverage are at least fatiguing, sometimes dangerous. And that's unpowered skates - how much more weight do a motor, battery, drivetrain (the reduction is clearly audible in that Wired video...), and additional wheels add? That's my biggest red flag. Skates strapped to whatever random shoe that users from the full spectrum of agility and fitness are wearing looks a lot like a liability mine field.

Retric 4y ago
These things are far slower than roller skating and assuming the get the software right more stable via 10 independently powered wheels. Running one into an obstacle like a curve shouldn’t be that hard to recover from. Much like stepping off of a moving walkway, though with really heavy shoes on.
asdff 4y ago
For skateboarding if you get slightly larger and softer wheels you can go over all sorts of sticks and stones. I ride ricta clouds. Longboards also have no problem because their wheels are even bigger and softer. It would take a bigger rock that would be pretty hard to miss to eat it with those sorts of wheels.
- 4ggr0 4y ago
  A couple of years ago I found a pile of skate boards (so, only the boards) in the trash and took them. During the pandemic I felt like making a full skateboard out of one of them. I knew that I would not be doing any tricks, so I bought Shark Wheels and all the other things a skateboard needs, paid around $150 for everything, I think. The third time I went out with it a pedestrian unexpectedly turned around on their heels, I maneuvered around but the wheels touched a wall, causing me to fly off and land on both of my palms. Went to the nearest pharmacy, they removed the pebbles from my hand, sanitized it etc., but it was pretty bloody. Now I have a pretty cool scar on one on my hands. Didn't touch the skateboard again, think I'll stick to walking :') (No, of course I wasn't wearing a helmet or pads...) Anyways, I lost track of what I wanted to say - The shark wheels indeed helped a ton, was never stopped by a pebble or stick in the ~1 hour I used them.

amscanne 4y ago

I don't think they need to counterbalance? It seems like they would just turn into very expensive, very bad roller skates when the battery dies. (They may still be dangerous, as roller skates can be, but much less than something that needs power to stop it from nosediving.)