WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: How Segways Work 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to tex Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:13.920 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.480 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:20.520 I Heart Radio and love all Things Tech. And it 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.920 is Friday, so it's time for another classic episode. This 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.560 episode is How Segways Work, and it originally published our 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:36.880 March two thousand. Segways were supposed to truly transform everything. 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:40.519 The prediction was that they were going to make cities 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:44.479 completely different. Um, I would argue that that didn't happen, 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:48.120 but we probably saw them pave the way, for lack 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:52.120 of a better word, for the e scooter revolution that 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.480 started around. But let's sit back and listen to this 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:01.480 classic episode. Lauren, you pointed out to me that we 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.560 actually we as in tech stuff recorded in an episode 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.560 about Dean Cayman, who is the founder of Segue a 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:11.880 long long time ago, a very long time agoack in 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.160 two thousand eight. Yeah, well, he's done a whole bunch 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:18.720 of other really cool stuff. Yeah. He invented a thing 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:22.080 called a Luke arm, which is a robotic arm that 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.440 for people who have lost a limb. Yeah, we talked 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.360 a little bit. I bet about that in a whole 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.280 other podcast thing we're doing. Yeah, over and Forward Thinking. 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:31.759 It's great show, you guys. If you haven't checked out 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.800 Forward Thinking, you should definitely check it out. It's great stuff. Uh. 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.520 He also invented a water purification device called the sling Shot, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.720 which can take pretty much anything that has water content 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.080 in it and purify it into drinkable water. So you 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.360 can take sewage and put it through this thing and 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.640 it would actually produce clean, drinkable water and it's meant 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:56.120 for communities that have uh, you know, have trouble accessing 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.240 clean water. Fantastic thing. He's partnered with some pretty big 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.920 companies for that. But the segue, I think is where 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.760 a lot of people no Dean Cayman like they they 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.400 heard about it that because of the segue, well it got. 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.560 It got a great deal of publicity, which we will 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.840 talk about later in the episode. Because it was the 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.840 hype for it is can really only be called hype. 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:18.480 It was very intent. It was it was like it 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.200 was like if you had heard that this rock and 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.200 roll band that had not released an album in like 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.760 ten years was getting back together to do their first 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.040 studio album. Uh, and that you know in a decade, 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.200 and that would that would be kind of similar to 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.120 the hype build up that not only were they going 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.360 to do an album, but they were going to revolutionize 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.600 the entire music industry with this album. That's that's the level. Yeah, 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.480 that's fair. So we'll talk about that in a bit, 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:44.400 but first we wanted to kind of talk about actually 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.120 what it was and how it worked. So if you 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:48.600 were to look at one of these things, in case 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:50.960 you have not seen it, it looks like a little 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.880 two wheeled scooter, but the wheels are are side by side. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.000 They're not in line with one another. Their side by side. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.880 And when you would stand on a platform with the 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.000 left wheel to your left and the right wheel to 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.280 your right, there's a bar that comes straight up vertically 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.880 from the platform. Their handlebars handle bars that you hold 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.400 onto and then when you when you lean, it moves. 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:14.880 When you lean forward, it starts to move forward. When 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.320 you lean backward, it stops. If you lean back enough, 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:20.200 it'll go backward a little bit. But it's um and 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:22.440 uh and and the new models these days, when you 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.520 tilt the handlebars, that is how you steer. Yeah, and 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:28.760 the original one, you would twist one of the handlebars 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.400 the right handlebars, so rapping a motorcycle style exactly. And 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.760 if you if you twisted, if you twisted one way, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:35.440 it would turn left, and you twist the other way, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.400 it turns right. And the way it turns is kind 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.360 of cool. Uh. When you lean forward, both wheels engage 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.800 and start moving forward simultaneously. Correct. When you turn, only 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.560 one wheel starts to move in one direction and the 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.920 other wheel allows you to pivot on on a dine 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.520 right right. Yeah, it's a turning radius of zero zero 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.800 turning radius, which is pretty amazing. And Uh, we'll talk 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.480 about what he intend did this device to do in 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:03.440 the second half, I think, but first we wanted to 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.720 kind of talk about the actual technology that makes this possible. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.360 And Dean came in. Before he had gone into developing 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.680 the Segway, had already started to work on some pretty 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:18.080 cool systems. He did some work on motorized wheelchairs that 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.560 were capable of doing things like climbing up staircases, and 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.320 that work kind of led him to the idea of 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.320 what if I created a device that could transport people 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.520 at a good clip, uh, and make it so that 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.240 it it works on the same principle as what it's 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:40.120 like when you're walking. So when you're walk yeah, exactly, 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:44.040 it works in a way that feels natural to us. 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.480 Although I will tell you the first time you get 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.479 on a segway, nothing feels natural about it. I haven't 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:51.600 actually been on one. You have, I have, I've done. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.240 I've been on a segway. I really enjoyed it. I 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.560 had a great time. But have you ever engaged in 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.400 an activity where the first step requires you to do 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.720 something that feels totally unnatural to you, so that there's 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.640 like your body is actually resisting what you have to do. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.560 But basically that's me walking every day. But I mean, 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.000 but for for example, when I switched from a W 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:19.400 A S D keyboard uh First Person Shooters to Xbox controller, 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:21.599 I was like, what is this? See? For me, what 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.159 I think of is like the first time when I 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.640 was a little kid that I ever tried snorkeling. Because 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.080 I put my face in the water and my body 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:34.160 is telling me, for goodness sakes, man, whatever you do, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.400 don't breathe. Then you're underwater, and you know, my my 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:42.240 breast of my brain is saying, foolish, scary, reptile brain, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.720 that's not anything to worry about. You have a tube, 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.719 but to the air, which is unobstructed, you can breathe 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:53.080 all you like. And it took that leaped not literally 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:57.719 did literally leap, but no, yeah, I couldn't get enough traction, 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.839 but it took that mental to get to a point 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.000 where I felt comfortable. Same sort of thing on a segue, 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.400 because the way it works is that you start to 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.120 lean forward as if you're going to take a step, 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:13.039 because basically what walking is is controlled falling. Right Yeah, 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.600 You're you're you're throwing the upper part of your body forward. 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:20.120 You're you're essentially unbalancing yourself and then counting on one 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:24.520 leg or the other hypothetically to catch it. Right, Yeah, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.200 you just you're constantly catching yourself with your legs. You're 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.479 you know, especially if you're if you're walking at a 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.760 good pace, you know, you'll see people they're leaning into 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.880 it and uh and that weight is what's helping them 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.240 propel forward. And then they swing a leg out, which 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.120 catches them, stops them from falling, and they use that 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.760 leg to push them forward, and then the other leg 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.039 and so on and so forth. And it's something that 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.719 we once we start to learn how to walk. It 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.760 just becomes natural to us. We don't even think about it, right, right, Well, 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.520 we've got all kinds of a really really intricate inner 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.159 ear sensory mechanisms to tell us when we're balanced and 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.800 when we're off balanced, and how everything is going. It's 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.160 a really it's such an automatic process that when you're 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.520 not too you're not thinking about it. Yeah. And what's 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.560 also funny is that that that same system of sensors 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.480 that we have in our brain. Well, two things are funny. 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.040 One thing is that a lot of that informed Dean 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.320 Cayman when he was designing the segue. He wanted to 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.120 have a mechanical means to sort of recreate that. And 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.640 the other thing is that these sensors are not fails there, 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.160 they're they're not foolproof. We we can fool ourselves. Uh. 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.520 This is partially what leads us to things like motion sickness, 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.000 where we get one set of input from a set 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:35.440 of senses telling us one thing, and a different set 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.880 of input from other senses telling us another thing, and 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:42.120 that that conflict makes our brain say, Okay, if that's 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:46.840 how you're gonna play it, we're losing lunch. That's it. Uh, 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:51.560 someone who has suffered from from car sickness, motion sickness 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.320 that way. Strangely enough, never got sea sick, but I've 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.440 been motion sick from a car before. But anyway, so 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.840 the the they are fallible, these systems in our our 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.680 brains and in the segway. As it turns out, So 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.280 Dean came and wanted to create the segue in such 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:12.560 a way that it would require you to lean forward 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.360 as if you were going to take a step, and 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.600 that would be the indicator to move right and then 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:18.880 and then sort of trust the machine. I imagine that 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.520 that's where you have your initial problem, because you're you're 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.680 you're leaning forward and you're not catching yourself. Yeah, and 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.440 you know you've already been told, You've already been told, 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.440 do not take your foot off the platform to step 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.560 and catch yourself, because then you run yourself over. So 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.640 not only do you not wearing a helmet at the 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.280 time hypothetically, yes, I was wearing a helmet at the time. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:43.840 That was that was that was a requirement. I want 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.160 to say that I was at Disney when I did this. 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:48.760 It was at some park and I think it was Disney, 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.760 and it was it was not the full epp Cut tour, 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.360 which we can talk about. I've got a little factoid 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.959 on that. Uh, there is a tour that very popular 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.280 tour at Epcot that use as segways. It wasn't that, 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.880 it was just a little like familiarize yourself with this 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.360 technology thing, and I was like, I've always wanted to 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:07.880 do this, and that's when I tried it. So I've 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.400 only done at the one time, and I really would 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.560 love to have more time with it because it was 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.560 an interesting experience. But yes, it requires you to move 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:18.640 forward as if you were going to take a step, 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.520 but not take your weight completely off your foot, just 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:23.840 lean forward as if you were about to start walking, 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:29.120 and that makes the segway go, which is kind of cool. Um. Now, 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.640 the way it does that is it has a complex 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:36.040 system of gyroscopes inside to kind of let it know 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.719 what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. Right. 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.480 It has five gyroscopes in fact, and technically it's really 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.480 only using three of them. Two of them are fail safe. Yeah. Yeah, 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.960 three of them are meant to detect things like forward, 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.439 leaning forward, leaning backward, and tilt to the left or 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.640 right right. Okay, but so so a gyroscope. Let's talk 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.600 about what a gyroscope is because a little bit integral. Yeah, 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.600 so it's basically just a spinning we will inside a frame. Yeah, 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.640 the frame itself is stable and free. The spinning wheel 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:11.320 has um well, it's rotating around an axis, right, so 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:12.920 you've got the access at the center of the wheel. 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:17.120 The wheel rotates and then it was it resists changes 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:22.400 forces that would change the alignment of that gyroscope so well, 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:24.800 because if you push on the on the spinning wheel, 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.760 it's just going to transfer into it's it's called precessing. 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.880 This is a really this is an interesting thing. It's 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.400 actually it's one of those things that's kind of difficult 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.360 to explain in an audio podcast. First of all, let 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.120 me tell you that at how stuff works dot com 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.240 we have an article on how gyroscopes work, which includes 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.120 video showing what I'm about to talk about. So if 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.040 you have trouble visualizing what I'm about to explain, despite 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.679 the fact that we're both gesticulating wildly, yeah, really, I mean, 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.000 there's only so much I can get across and radio, right, 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.440 but you can go there and look it up. But 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:00.800 what the gyroscope does is the this whole thing of 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:05.400 precessing is Imagine that you have a bicycle wheel suspended 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.760 from a string. Strings tied to the ceiling somewhere. The 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.480 bicycle wheels hanging down the The string is tied to 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.600 the axis of the wheel, so it could still spin freely. Okay, 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.840 got it. Now, if you were to align that wheel 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.320 so it's vertical relative to the ground, so the wheel 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:24.160 is as if it was on a bicycle that you 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.120 were riding down the street. Okay. The string is tied 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.440 to one side of that axis, so there's a string 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.199 that's coming down on one side of the access to 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:33.720 the other side of the access doesn't have a string 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.120 tied to it, so there's nothing to keep it vertical. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:38.280 If you were to just let go, that wheel would 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.160 flop down into the horizontal uh formation. It would just 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:44.920 be parallel to the ground. Correct more or less. If 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:46.959 you were to turn a vertical and then start spinning 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.280 the wheel, it would remain vertically and it would slowly 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:55.439 begin to rotate around the string. So that's the precession, 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.600 is that it's rotating around a different access perpendicular to 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.360 the one of its main mos. Now, why is it 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.720 staying vertical as opposed to flopping over. The reason for 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.720 that is that if you were to apply a force 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.720 to say, let's say you've got the bicycle wheel spinning 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.439 in your arms. Okay, you're you're holding the you're holding 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.400 the axis in front of you, and the wheel is 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.439 vertical and you've got spinning. You can do this. I've 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.439 seen science museums that have had this where you sit 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:27.920 in a swivel chair and you hold the bicycle wheel 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:29.640 in front of you, like you extend your arms out 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.600 so that the wheel can spin freely in front of you. 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.199 If you try and tilt that wheel, you'll feel resistance. 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:39.000 And the reason for that is that imagine that, you know, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.319 take a still image, like you're able to freeze time. Okay, 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.360 I can so, all right, Well that's good, And you're 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.480 going to tilt the wheel so that the top of 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.080 the wheel from your perspective, would be moving to the 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.160 left and the bottom of the wheel would be moving 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.560 to the right. You're tilting it on a diagonal. Okay. Now, 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.720 as that wheel is spinning the point where you would 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.880 be turning it to the left, that that's you're applying 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.319 a force to that section. So imagine imagine a spot 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.280 at the very top of the wheel, at the vertical 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:10.480 apex of that wheel. Okay, that's where you're applying the 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.839 force to move to the left. Now the wheel is 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:17.120 actually spinning. So if we were to jump ahead twenty frames, 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.840 now the point is directly in front of the wheel, 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.160 it's no longer at the top. It is rotated around 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.560 to be in the front, and uh, it still wants 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.560 to go toward the left. Go ahead another twenty frames. 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:30.640 Now the point is at the bottom of the wheel. 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.520 It still wants to go to the left. But the 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:35.920 force you're applying is trying to make the bottom of 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.559 the wheel go to the right. So the force you're 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.080 applying is trying to push the wheels direction in one way. 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.400 But because that reference point was at the top at 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:47.640 the beginning and it's still trying to go to the 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.319 left from when you were applying the force at the 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.280 very beginning, those two forces cancel each other out. It 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:56.560 resists the force to make it move in a different direction, 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.120 and then you also have the precession. So if you're 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.040 singing a swivel chair you start to spin around. It's 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.680 kind of fun. Uh, this is a great cheap way 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:09.440 to entertain small children. Um. Anyway, it's an interesting just 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:13.240 an interesting fact of physics is that the gyroscope in 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:18.520 this this stable frame will react in this way. But so, okay, So, 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.480 so the point of gyroscopes being in devices like this 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.040 is that if you measure the position of the spinning 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.480 wheel inside of its frame, you can determine the the 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.160 pitch and the pitch rate. Yeah, exactly, You're you're looking 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.520 at like the the frame itself can move freely within 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.920 the confines of whatever it is you're talking what you're 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.880 talking about, whether it's it could be a segue, could 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.920 be an airplane, it could be a phone, um, and 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.720 so it can move freely within that context. And it 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.320 maybe a solid state drive, as is the case with 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.440 the segue, may not be an actual physical gyros Yeah, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:52.400 and we'll we'll get into that in just a second, right. 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:54.440 And but if you're able to do that in such 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:58.640 a way, then the gyroscope and the pitch detection will 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:03.600 allow the UH will give enough information so that some 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.640 sort of processor can take that information in and know 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.440 what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:15.200 So by detecting these changes and by detecting the forces 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.880 that are enacting upon these different gyroscopes. The segue can 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.880 interpret that and say, oh, I should engage the motor 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:26.360 to drive forward, or I should stop, or I should 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.280 move back backward exactly, or I should I should probably 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.760 put up a warning because this guy is really leaning 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.760 over a bit too far right right? Um, but so 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:37.480 so yeah, So the kind of gyroscopes that are that 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:42.080 are in a segue are the solid state angular rate sensors. Yes, 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.120 that that are basically the way that I understand. It's 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.880 a little silicon plate. Yes, and I think I actually 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.440 said that the correct way the first time. Yes, you 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:55.400 did silicon, not silicone. You're exactly right, two separate issues. Um. 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.480 And so it's a it's a silicon silicon plate mounted 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.000 on the support frame and you run. You run an 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:06.040 electrostatic current across the plate and wiggles the silicon particles 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.120 around and makes the plate as a whole vibrate in 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:13.640 a very predictable way. Um. And when there's a physical 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:18.000 change in the forces, meaning when you've tilted in some way. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.480 when when you physically move the plate on its access 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:25.760 access Yes, talking is great. The particles suddenly shift and 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.120 the vibration changes right, And by changing of vibration, you 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.320 know that there's a change in the state that you 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.240 are in, whether that's a tilt or you know, whatever 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.600 other thing you might have this gyroscope, and but in 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.680 the case of the segue, we're talking about specifically the 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.280 tilt of the segue itself. Right, So if you hook 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.320 a computer up to this, that can measure the precise 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.560 change right and interpret it exactly. So if it says like, oh, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.160 it's changed a little bit, like the vibration has changed 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.240 a little bit, indicating that the person is starting to 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.240 lean forward, time to engage the motors. If it's changed 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.360 a lot, in mind, meaning that the person has leaned 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:59.640 forward pretty hard, which indicates that you should move at 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.600 a fat your pace. So you've got these motors that 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.720 will engage in order to activate the wheels, and the 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.119 wheels begin to turn and that's where you get the motion. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:12.400 So the thing that's keeping this all going is um 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.560 you know, you've got the gyroscopic sensors that's giving the information, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.359 But then you have two circuit boards that have controllers 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.399 on them as ten microprocessors total in the original segue, 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.080 and those microprocessors are what's taking in all this information 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:30.040 and uh and and translating it into action. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:33.840 that that first one. Um, the microprocessors would check the 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.480 position sensors about a hundred times per second, that's right. Yeah, 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.520 So that way it can make sure that it's giving 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:41.680 the right information to the motors so that you're you're 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.040 moving at the right speed compared to how you are 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:48.440 how you're physically manipulating the segue right right. It's it's 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.400 also got in there, um, a couple of tilt sensors 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.520 filled with electrolyte fluid, electrolytes being of course what plants crave, 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:59.600 thank you, which which is again just like your inner ear. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.879 it's your interear has fluid in it, and that's what 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.640 helps you determine what your orientation is relative to your environment. 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:10.119 This is why one of the reasons why when people 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.439 go up in the vomit commet, that's why it's called that, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.919 because when you're in the vomit commet, you're you're the 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.560 sensory information you're getting from your eyes and from your 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.680 your you know, what you're feeling is so different from 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.040 what your inner ear is trying to make sense of. 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:29.200 When this fluid is something. Yeah. Yeah, it's basically, you've 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.160 just got this little sensor in your head where you've 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:32.960 got a level of fluid, and that is how you 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.960 calibrate yourself to the ground by based on on where 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.080 the fluid is tilting right and in a freefall motion. 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.080 That that information ends up being a little weird and 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:46.119 so a lot of people end up again losing their lunch, 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.240 which is why they often refer to the planes that 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.399 take these these flights as the vomit commet. Yeah, but 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.840 it is interesting that the segue itself has this electoral life. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.160 Not you don't have to worry about your segue losing 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.159 its lunch. Don't worry about that part. That part similarity 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:03.480 has now ended. But other than that, it is using 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.440 a very similar approach to detect tilt as the way 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.200 humans do which again kind of cool that Dean came 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:13.120 and is taking taking direction from the way our bodies 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.720 do stuff to help inform him on the way he 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:20.600 makes technology. I blame it on his extensive medical background. Yeah, 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.439 and again the Luke arm another example of that. Right, 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:26.560 he's taking that that how do humans do things and 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:29.320 how can we make technology that emulates this? He was 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:31.679 also when he was in college. He was the first 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.439 He invented the first drug injection pump and later the 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.960 first portable insulin pump, which is part of how he 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:42.080 made such such much money. And the cool thing to 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:45.520 me is that it's obvious that what drives him is 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.600 a desire to innovate and to help people yea, And 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.480 he talks very passionately. There's some really really good interviews 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.800 with him will Lincome on social where he's talking about 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.119 watching people use his inventions for the first time and 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:00.359 and them kind of you know, people who haven't been 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.000 able to move this way ever and in some cases 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.600 and in them and just the amount of pride and 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:08.840 and just awesome that happens, and the fact that that 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:12.359 that is what what really uh gives them an incentive 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.560 to continue. It's pretty interesting stuff. It's it's a really 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.040 cool story. And in fact, there's a whole section of 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.400 the Segway story that we need to get into, which 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.760 involves the whole hype issue and a little bit more 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.640 about the the original Segue models that came out and 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.200 and some controversy that Segue has had over the years. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.320 We'll talk about that in just a minute, but first 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:34.280 Before we do that, let's take a quick moment to 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:45.760 thank our sponsor. Let's segue back into our episode. I 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:49.480 couldn't resist, and so just a few more facts about 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:53.080 the original segue. Keep in mind that they've made several 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:57.240 different models over the course of the segways life, but 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:00.280 the earlier ones they had a top speed of about 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.399 twelve and a half miles per hour, which is around 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:05.000 twenty kilometers per hour, right, I think, and I think 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.280 in some other countries it was maybe thirteen and a half. 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:10.360