Ever since the Segway started people thinking about the self balancing scooter concept, there have been several attempts to build something similar. The Ryno, is an electric self balancing unicycle from Ryno Motors, a Portland, Oregon company started by Chris Hoffmann, a mechanical engineer who has been working on prototypes and finally has one that he says is just about ready for the market.
The 125 pound scooter has a range of 30 miles and a top speed of 25 mph. A 1 1/2 hour recharge and you’re off again.
Estimated price of the production model will be about $3500, though Chris says he’s already sold 5 pre-production hand built units for $25,000. I guess some guys just have to be first.
Judging from the videos below it seems to work pretty well and the photo at the top of this article looks like it runs on the street at a reasonable pace. Security guards and similar folks are the target market where long hours standing on a Segway might get a bit tiring. Now all they have to do is boost the speed and range and let everyone have at it though it could be perfectly fine as is for the intended market. Interesting.
UPDATE: New videos added
Link: Ryno Motors via Engadget and Gizmag
Videos below:
B50 Jim says
Reminds me of Smokey Stover’s 2-wheel car. I wonder if it requires special skills to ride, or can anyone climb on and go for a scoot? As impressive as it is, it seems to me like a product that nobody asked for. Maybe it would be a good replacement for a Segway; can’t tell from the video if it’s ready for prime time. Hoffmann seems to be concentrating pretty hard to ride it even though he says it’s “part of him”. Still, it’s quite an achievement and could be fun and, if practical, a useful tool for law enforcement or anyplace a very compact vehicle is needed. Imagine showhorning in a huge battery and riding it 70 mph!
Fred M. says
“Imagine showhorning in a huge battery and riding it 70 mph!”
Imagine trying to stop. Can you say “face plant”?
akaacount says
You can probably do some sweet wheelies with all the grip from that big fat tire.
a joke.
GuitarSlinger says
Why ???
BobG says
Why not?
JeCo says
First pic gives it a bit of futurist urban efficient look which I think is cool. I see this more as a inner city rental type of transportation at best. Considering something like SanFran or New York (minus winter) where there are little newspaper like rental stations every 4-6 blocks that you can pick up drop off for quick transportation. With such a small range and low speed it cannot be considered a daily transportation tool.
That video is terrible and does nothing to benefit this device.. would try and eradicate from the internet if I was Rhino.
Every time I look at his log I think ducati.
B*A*M*F says
I could see an offroad version of this being pretty sweet. It would be pretty difficult to get high centered on anything.
andy lloyd says
Great concept but I wouldn’t have allowed photo’s to be taken of a new product with a cracked steering mounting plate !
I hope he does well.
Andy
Les says
I’d like to see him do something like try to ride up and down those stairs.
I imagine most accidents would end in a very tragic face plant.
HeadGrinder says
Cool but just don’t try to stop fast while going at top speed!
kim says
All nice and fine, but how does one wheelie the darn thing?
JP says
BC’s wheel gets updated! Peter and Thor are jealous. . . Clumsy hasn’t gotten his head out of the water to decide yet.
Keith says
no range, slow recharge…fuhgeddabout it.
todd says
I can see this doing well with tourist rental businesses in cities like San Francisco too. I think it is so much more “cooler” than a Segway. This could also be used as shop transportation around large warehouses.
Looks like fun regardless.
-todd
ck says
reminds me of something i saw on a South Park cartoon episode long ago: http://members.cox.net/viss1/Pix/SouthParkCar.jpg
JerseyMayhem says
uh…..anyone else getting the uno vibe?
http://www.popsci.com/node/21644
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
If you had followed the link I put within the article above, you would have seen that it was the latest of three posts on The Kneeslider about the Uno.
xcaptainxbloodx says
this would be perfect for anyone who lives under 30 miles from their work. ride in, plug it in, work, ride home.
does it need to be plated?
John Findlay says
It’s technologie in it’s infancy, the first motorcycles were lame as well. The one that really has me wondering though is if this could be a practile alternative for people who are disabled ? Could a wheel chair bound person make it work for them if say it had stabilisers or some sort of a stand when motionless ? Segway really started something that full potential has yet to be realised.
Fred M. says
No, it could never be practical.
The engineering conundrum has to do with weight transfer under braking or acceleration. If the operator wants to stop quickly, the vehicle has to first accelerate to rotate the rider over backwards and then brake such that the rider ends up vertical, using the rotational mass as a counter-balance to the deceleration.
The problem is that the controller can’t know if the rider is trying to brake hard to a full stop or will just be reducing his speed. If it cants the rider back in preparation for a full stop, and he lets off the brakes after decelerating to, say, 20mph, he’s still leaned back and the controller has to get him upright, so the brakes have to stay on (or the rider slides down the road on his back.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
That line of reasoning applies to the Segway as well, yet it works. Not having been on either a Segway or anything like this, I believe the Segway works because you can lean the unit forward and backward while your body remains relatively upright, your ankles, knees and hips pivot while you extend or retract your arms. I imagine this could use the same principle, your hips and waist being the pivot, or you could stand on the floorboards and pivot as with the Segway. Again, pure speculation since I’ve ridden neither of these and I would want to see and/or ride it before coming to a conclusion.
Oldtimer says
You’re correct. A friend of mine opened a Segway store when they first came out, (poor guy is as broke as me now!), and used to set them up for demonstrations. Braking quickly was somewhat like stopping quickly on ice skates. Acceleration could be quite brisk also if you wanted, but in either situation the machine reacted to it’s forward or backward inclination input from the rider. You had to use your bodys center of gravity to counteract either force from the machine. While it was still possible to crash one if you got carried away with it, they were quite easy to learn to ride.
Hooligan says
Pity the bloke bloke who had the rights to manufacture the Segway died when he drove off a cliff on one.
Not a good advertisement for your product.
As far as this thing goes? You would not get me on one. Riding in London is dangerous enough as it is.
Walt says
Every ride a wheelie . . . and a stoppie! I love the courage and imagination of guys who push the technology window, even when they crash through and fall to the street below.