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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 surpri

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.

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.