Popular Post Guy Posted November 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 8, 2020 Here's a video of a guy I met a while back when I was riding my V8. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 (edited) Self balancing transport grew from an early version of that very chair—it’s the papa of our modern wheels! Useless fun factoid relayed by the Project Manager of the original Segway: They were working on a wheelchair that could go up and down stairs and that project’s code name was “Fred”. For obvious reasons they got to calling it “Fred up stairs” (Fred Astaire). When they realized they could morph Fred up stairs into the human transporter, the logical code name for the new product was “Ginger”. We of course know Ginger as the Segway Human Transporter. Edited November 9, 2020 by Tawpie I always MUST wordsmith. It’s a disability 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giffy Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 @Guy This was a really cool video. I'm so glad you thought to interview him. On 11/8/2020 at 7:07 PM, Tawpie said: Self balancing transport grew from an early version of that very chair—it’s the papa of our modern wheels! That makes this video extra cool here. I pass by more electric mobility transport than I do electric recreational transport. I can't help but wave to them knowing they're riding the OGs to our toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hsiang Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 On 11/8/2020 at 7:07 PM, Tawpie said: Self balancing transport grew from an early version of that very chair—it’s the papa of our modern wheels! Useless fun factoid relayed by the Project Manager of the original Segway: They were working on a wheelchair that could go up and down stairs and that project’s code name was “Fred”. For obvious reasons they got to calling it “Fred up stairs” (Fred Astaire). When they realized they could morph Fred up stairs into the human transporter, the logical code name for the new product was “Ginger”. We of course know Ginger as the Segway Human Transporter. That is really interesting, may I ask where you found this? I am always up for fun factoids about the segway!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 (edited) I had the pleasure of working with Ginger's project manager in a prior life, there were many fun stories shared... for instance did you know that Dean Kaman's private island (North Dumpling Island, part of the US in spite of a succession attempt) has a non-aggression pact with the US? Wikipedia has it covered now, but back in the day it was super amusing. Another reference to Ginger is now here: Bellis, Mary. "Segway Human Transporter." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/segway-human-transporter-1992424. oh--the reason Fred had to be able to rise and balance on two wheels was so that it could get the front wheels up and onto the next step. The front and back wheels rotated as a unit so the top wheels got placed on the next step, then the balance point was shifted to the wheels on the top step and the entire wheel set was rotated to raise everything up. It was very complex and quite an achievement—gyroscopes weren't very precise until you went to the rather expensive ring laser devices so they solved the precision problem in software. Edited November 13, 2020 by Tawpie add last paragraph 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giffy Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 11/13/2020 at 1:28 PM, Tawpie said: I had the pleasure of working with Ginger's project manager in a prior life, there were many fun stories shared... for instance did you know that Dean Kaman's private island (North Dumpling Island, part of the US in spite of a succession attempt) has a non-aggression pact with the US? Wikipedia has it covered now, but back in the day it was super amusing. Now THAT was an interesting rabbit hole to go down. Not only is the idea of the island being a micronation very interesting, the owner, Kean Kaman, is quite an interesting man too. I particularly found the picture of him and Bill Clinton interesting given their shared affinity for private islands but I digress. I found this about the Island it's self: North Dumpling Island was bought for $2.5 million in 1986 by entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the founding father of the Segway. After a denial from local officials to build his own wind turbine on the island he decided to secede from the United States, and even got his friend, then president George W. Bush to comply. The island has its own flag, constitution, anthem and Dean Kamen did eventually build his own turbine, which along with several solar panels provides all the energy for the island. It's so cool to see be able to trace the history of our devices like this. So cool and thank Tawpie for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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