3 ms·

Some very good points here. What happens to a Segway when it runs out of battery?

c22 3y ago
The Segway has redundant control circuitry, motor windings, and battery. If there is a failure of any of these I believe it will fault and perform a controlled stop.
bombcar 3y ago
Since we’ve not heard stories of it being involved in deaths I assume that the battery stops providing propulsion score it stops providing gyro. (And depending on how the gyro is designed it might keep spinning long enough for it to slow down and stop.)
- alas44 3y ago
  Ironically false, former Segway company owner died on his Segway https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimi_Heselden#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimi_Heselden#Dea...
  - bombcar 3y ago
    But “backed his Segway off a cliff” is very different from Segway bucked him into the concrete.
capableweb 3y ago
> What happens to a Segway when it runs out of battery? A Segway needs electricity to balance itself, so my guess is that when it gets close to running out of battery, it stops by itself and refuses to continue.
- coryrc 3y ago
  Though they have failed in the same manner as the Onewheel, but less often and their top speed is lower IIRC.
  - MBCook 3y ago
    I’d be willing to bet they limited their speed then stopped before the battery fully ran out to prevent this exact situation.
    - coryrc 3y ago
      From trading the other comments, it seems the Onewheel is just glitchy. They certainly must also have a low-battery cutoff, but I bet it's not accurate in all ranges of temperature and with aged batteries.
MBCook 3y ago
One of the reasons the Segway was so expensive is they built it like medical devices, with tons of redundancies in its systems for this exact reason. So if one computer glitched out it wouldn’t just chuck its passenger head over heels. As we know, once hoverboards got really popular the cheap ones (perhaps most?) were NOT built that way. I saw someone nearly faceplant when theirs ran out of battery and stopped on a dime.
- brokenmachine 3y ago
  Hoverboards are just about the only thing I can think of that look intrinsically more dangerous than a onewheel, just looking at it from a physical design perspective.
yebyen 3y ago
My ninebot scooter (maybe not what you're asking, but it's a Segway product) slows down until it can't carry you anymore. First it just can no longer achieve the maximum velocity, then soon it can no longer reach standard speed, and then you're limping along at 4mph and you can no longer climb any grade without pushing. Finally you're pushing. It's not particularly usable as a scooter without the battery.

c22 3y ago

The Segway has redundant control circuitry, motor windings, and battery. If there is a failure of any of these I believe it will fault and perform a controlled stop.

bombcar 3y ago

Since we’ve not heard stories of it being involved in deaths I assume that the battery stops providing propulsion score it stops providing gyro. (And depending on how the gyro is designed it might keep spinning long enough for it to slow down and stop.)

alas44 3y ago
Ironically false, former Segway company owner died on his Segway https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimi_Heselden#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimi_Heselden#Dea...
- bombcar 3y ago
  But “backed his Segway off a cliff” is very different from Segway bucked him into the concrete.

capableweb 3y ago

> What happens to a Segway when it runs out of battery? A Segway needs electricity to balance itself, so my guess is that when it gets close to running out of battery, it stops by itself and refuses to continue.

coryrc 3y ago
Though they have failed in the same manner as the Onewheel, but less often and their top speed is lower IIRC.
- MBCook 3y ago
  I’d be willing to bet they limited their speed then stopped before the battery fully ran out to prevent this exact situation.
  - coryrc 3y ago
    From trading the other comments, it seems the Onewheel is just glitchy. They certainly must also have a low-battery cutoff, but I bet it's not accurate in all ranges of temperature and with aged batteries.

MBCook 3y ago

One of the reasons the Segway was so expensive is they built it like medical devices, with tons of redundancies in its systems for this exact reason. So if one computer glitched out it wouldn’t just chuck its passenger head over heels. As we know, once hoverboards got really popular the cheap ones (perhaps most?) were NOT built that way. I saw someone nearly faceplant when theirs ran out of battery and stopped on a dime.

brokenmachine 3y ago
Hoverboards are just about the only thing I can think of that look intrinsically more dangerous than a onewheel, just looking at it from a physical design perspective.

yebyen 3y ago

My ninebot scooter (maybe not what you're asking, but it's a Segway product) slows down until it can't carry you anymore. First it just can no longer achieve the maximum velocity, then soon it can no longer reach standard speed, and then you're limping along at 4mph and you can no longer climb any grade without pushing. Finally you're pushing. It's not particularly usable as a scooter without the battery.