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Big Build Update

A project log for Medicycle - Urban Responder

We are living in the future, Medics now need motorbikes to navigate our congested cities but they no longer need two wheels

nick-thatcherNick Thatcher 07/21/2014 at 23:512 Comments

A lot has been going on since the last build update. There are no formal build instructions yet for a very good reason; with machines like this you have to build something and then iteratively develop it. This means the design deviates from the original, which was a best-guess at what would work, based on our previous designs.

So, progress so far:

https://sites.google.com/site/onewheeledselfbalancing/Home/one-wheeled-scooter

Discussions

XenonJohn wrote 07/28/2014 at 18:10 point
Hi,
At present both rims are on a single axle and joined together. I have thought about a kind of "automated turning" where the inner wheel would lift slightly on its own suspension but that would mean a suspension arm and a (heavy) motor for each wheel. The machine is quite heavy already so I am wary of adding more complexity in the metalwork. It would be good in longer term to experiment with all kinds of unusual linkages, however as it stands this machine is already an incremental step ahead of my last one. I need on this occasion to make something that has a reasonable chance of working so it cannot be radically "experimental." I will optimize it and learn any lessons I need to learn. Every machine we make is another small step into the unknown so maybe in a year or two who knows how the design will have evolved! This is one reason why the current design has an upper and a lower frame. I can change wheel/drive arrangements by altering the lower frame, while all the power and control electronics remain unchanged in the upper part. It is one of those hobbies where you can always think of an improvement or something else worth trying - it will never be completely finished.
Anyone want to give me a Piaggio MP3 front end to play with?

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voxadam wrote 07/27/2014 at 08:02 point
This is an absolutely beautiful project. I want one for myself more than ever.

I'm curious about the current dual wheel setup. Are they on a single rigid axle so that they remain concentric or do they slide relative to each other like in Piaggio's MP3 frontend suspension (http://j.mp/UCy1Ye)?

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