litewave Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Last week Ninebot raised $100 Million USD in C-round financing from two major Chinese investment funds, SDIC Fund Management Company Ltd. and the China Mobile Fund. I think this is the first major investment since Xiaomi and Sequoia 'chipped in' $80 million USD in 2015 to acquire Segway. Let's hope this leads to further innovation in EUCs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 22 hours ago, litewave said: Last week Ninebot raised $100 Million USD in C-round financing from two major Chinese investment funds, SDIC Fund Management Company Ltd. and the China Mobile Fund. I think this is the first major investment since Xiaomi and Sequoia 'chipped in' $80 million USD in 2015 to acquire Segway. Let's hope this leads to further innovation in EUCs. It looks like they are getting into robotics. The Loomis is based on a minipro chassis with a camera on top of the steering bar that they are working on new uses for by partnering with BMW and Intel. Sad to see no mention of the NinebotoneE+ anymore, no mention of the Z series on the Ninebot or Segway websites, all they offer now are about 5 or 6 two wheel models, the original Segways, a couple of electric scooters, and the only unicycle is the S1. http://www.segwayrobotics.com/ One of the uses they were thinking about was as an aid for the elderly, that could be a companion like a pet, but the robot could also monitor the health of the person and make sure they were okay. For example, it would know how long someone was in the bathroom, and if they were there too long, it would knock on the door and ask, are you in the loo, miss? And then call 911, kind of like an intelligent lifelock device. I'm hoping the the Z series will be the next big thing from Ninebot, and they are taking the time to make sure it is a good product. But it looks like Ninebot/Segway is looking far beyond electric unicycles, and more to mobility devices in general. $180 million dollars raised in 2 1/2 years, wow, it's much bigger than I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Self-balancing security sentry robots or military scout droids could help monitor areas and explore places where danger is present. It would be cool also to see something land on Mars or some other planet and be remotely directed to explore different areas. The Pathfinder rover was painfully slow going. With self-uprighting tech that could help in cases where something falls over. Imagine self-balancing robots that roam around assisting people around Disneyworld or large malls. Ground robots zooming around on one wheel or a tank track wheel to resupply troops. There so many possibilities for the tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 16 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: Imagine self-balancing robots that roam around assisting people around Disneyworld or large malls. That's just creepy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Nooot if they put a friendly face on the robot! Ever try to find an associate anywhere at Home Depot? You could walk a kilometre before finding somebody. https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en/robots/pepper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 You just made it even more creepy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Creepy good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: Ever try to find an associate anywhere at Home Depot? You could walk a kilometre before finding somebody. Yes! Two years ago I couldn't go to Home Depot and wander around looking for something without 5 or 6 people in orange aprons asking me if I was looking for something in particular. Used to annoy me. Nowadays you can't get any help without looking high and low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Romero Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 On 11/4/2017 at 5:42 PM, steve454 said: It looks like they are getting into robotics. The Loomis is based on a minipro chassis with a camera on top of the steering bar that they are working on new uses for by partnering with BMW and Intel. Sad to see no mention of the NinebotoneE+ anymore, no mention of the Z series on the Ninebot or Segway websites, all they offer now are about 5 or 6 two wheel models, the original Segways, a couple of electric scooters, and the only unicycle is the S1. http://www.segwayrobotics.com/ One of the uses they were thinking about was as an aid for the elderly, that could be a companion like a pet, but the robot could also monitor the health of the person and make sure they were okay. For example, it would know how long someone was in the bathroom, and if they were there too long, it would knock on the door and ask, are you in the loo, miss? And then call 911, kind of like an intelligent lifelock device. I'm hoping the the Z series will be the next big thing from Ninebot, and they are taking the time to make sure it is a good product. But it looks like Ninebot/Segway is looking far beyond electric unicycles, and more to mobility devices in general. $180 million dollars raised in 2 1/2 years, wow, it's much bigger than I thought. This is encouraging. Of all the robotics transporters, I prefer the two wheel Segway MiniPro platform. Glad that the cash influx will help evolve this concept. ➰ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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