kristof_explorer Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Hi everyone, I just wanted to share a project I've been working on for almost a year, which is finally functionally complete. It's a custom frame with a racecar theme. My original idea was to make two 'gas pedals' (and no brakes), and see how this affects the ride. I didn't know if this would work at all. Turns out, not only does this work, but these little springs become a fully functional suspension in tandem with the vehicle's balance response. This evens out excess lean-input, making it less likely to accidentally push the vehicle past its power limit, presumably increasing top speed (a little) - I clocked 17mph on gps (more testing required to confirm this). It also eats some of the lean-back when it does occur, and overall feels safer and more natural to ride. It adds a feeling of 'twist' to turns, even seems to balance out the dangerous wobbles that can occur when pushing top speed. The articulated knee bar I devised adds to the suspension effect and allows for a knees-bent stance. The suspension allows me to inflate the tires fully, to nearly hard, for max speed and acceleration without sacrificing comfort. Honestly I'm surprised it works, and even more surprised by all the cool "features" I'm learning it has. More detailed videos, and photos to come, I'm sure... His name is "Dobby" (he started out as my indoor Segway). What do you think? Would you take it for a test ride? 🏎️...ooooOOOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 2 hours ago, kristof_explorer said: Would you take it for a test ride? Absolutely! When's the demo tour? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 3 hours ago, kristof_explorer said: His name is "Dobby" (he started out as my indoor Segway). What do you think? Would you take it for a test ride? It's a great job! There are still passionate people in the world, I was wondering why Minis didn't have suspensions, when EUC makers started fitting EUCs with suspension. There remains the rare problem of the fragility of the extremities of the bodyframe, will the suspension, which must absorb shocks, perhaps create pressure on the entire bodyframe? The suspensions should be placed at the level of the axles of the wheels, ah! surely it is because of the gyroscope calculation, a suspension would distort or complicate the gyro calculation? On steep climbs or steep descents, how does your Mini Pro behave with your suspension system? I have more than 14,900 miles of travel in Mini and MINI Plus, I really suffered from the lack of suspension, carrying loads or going out in the forest You can immediately create a patent for DOBBY, to protect your idea, I think I will show it to Wang (CID Ninebot) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof_explorer Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 7 hours ago, Tawpie said: Absolutely! When's the demo tour? Our cross-country tour dates will be tba... 6 hours ago, jojo33 said: It's a great job! There are still passionate people in the world, I was wondering why Minis didn't have suspensions, when EUC makers started fitting EUCs with suspension. There remains the rare problem of the fragility of the extremities of the bodyframe, will the suspension, which must absorb shocks, perhaps create pressure on the entire bodyframe? The suspensions should be placed at the level of the axles of the wheels, ah! surely it is because of the gyroscope calculation, a suspension would distort or complicate the gyro calculation? On steep climbs or steep descents, how does your Mini Pro behave with your suspension system? I have more than 14,900 miles of travel in Mini and MINI Plus, I really suffered from the lack of suspension, carrying loads or going out in the forest You can immediately create a patent for DOBBY, to protect your idea, I think I will show it to Wang (CID Ninebot) I believe the springs do complicate the gyro calculation, but in a good way. I think actually the suspension 'effect' I feel is mostly the vehicle's compensation for the effect of the spring. I'm struggling right now to write up an explanation of exactly how I think it works, or even to sum it up, but I think there are a whole lot of interactions going on between the spring and the vehicle's response that result in a pretty cool effect. I don't have any very steep hills where I am currently, but so far I've had no unusual performance going up or down moderate hills. Really, the only unusual performance I've noticed has been positive! I just got back from another ride, and it honestly felt amazing. I have little doubt I went as fast as I've ever gone on one of these, with it only very rarely going into a full-tilt-back mode, feeling much more confident/in control the whole time. And turning is suddenly wonderful. It felt very flat and missing something before, now, doing just a little slalom side-to-side feels great and natural, more responsive, more finely controllable. Drifting on wet pavement feels much easier to control. Burnouts on the smooth kitchen floor are no longer a challenge to recover from... I think I may be onto something! In fact, I briefly rode in some deep sandy dirt (slowly) and found that even on these tires, it was hardly losing traction/spinning at all. I think this system actually also reduces spinouts as well as naturally recovers from them. I'm already thinking of developing a version of it for my offroad mini - it would be AMAZING to have this for the trails. Of course, you know how big even the little bumps feel on these things. Consider Dobby's patent pending... And let Segway know I'm available for hire ~ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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