WEBVTT - How Segways Work 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:14.360 In text with Technology with tech Stuff from hof dot com. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.239 Either everyone and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:23.280 Jonathan Scritland, Host Ordinair, and I am Lauren Vogelbaum, host extraordinaire. 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.200 That's right, And today we wanted to talk a little 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:30.560 bit about the Segue and not the way of going 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.040 from one story to a different st seg w A 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:39.559 y the the company and people mover or human transport device, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.839 U scooter electronic scooter fancy and Lauren, you pointed out 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:48.479 to me that we actually we as in tech Stuff, 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:52.040 recorded an episode about Dean Cayman, who is the founder 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.600 of Segue a long long time ago, a very long 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.920 time ago in two thousand eight. Yeah. Well he's done 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.680 a whole bunch of other really cool stuff. Yeah. He 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.800 he invented a thing called a Luke Arm, which is 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.440 a robotic arm that for people who have lost a limb. Yeah, 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.120 we talked a little bit, I bet about that in 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.680 a whole other podcast thing we're doing. Yeah, over and 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.480 Forward Thinking. It's great show. You guys, if you haven't 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:17.560 checked out Forward Thinking, you should definitely check it out. 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:22.160 It's great stuff. Uh. He also invented a water purification 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.560 device called the sling Shot, which can take pretty much 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.440 anything that has water content in it and purify it 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.960 into drinkable water. So you can take sewage and put 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.240 it through this thing and it would actually produce clean, 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.560 drinkable water. And it's meant for communities that have uh, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:43.399 you know, have trouble accessing clean water. Fantastic thing. He's 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.240 partnered with some pretty big companies for that. But the segue, 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.920 I think is where a lot of people no Dean 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.680 Cayman like they've they heard about it that because of 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.600 the segue, well it got it got a great deal 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.160 of publicity, which we will talk about later in the episode. 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.320 Because it was the hype for it is can really 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.240 only be called hype. It was very intent. It was 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:03.920 it was like it was like if you had heard 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:07.400 that this rock and roll band that had not released 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.320 an album in like ten years was getting back together 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.640 to do their first studio album, uh and that you know, 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:15.880 in a decade, and that would that would be kind 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:17.920 of similar to the hype build up. But not only 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:19.480 were they going to do an album, but they were 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.560 going to revolutionize the entire music industry with this album. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:24.880 That's that's the level. Yeah, that's fair. So we'll talk 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.600 about that uh in a bit, but first we wanted 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.119 to kind of talk about actually what it was and 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:32.000 how it worked. So if you were to look at 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.320 one of these things, in case you have not seen it, 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.480 it looks like a little two wheeled scooter, but the 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.440 wheels are are side by side. They're not in line 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:42.680 with one another. Their side by side. And when you 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.160 would stand on a platform with the left wheel to 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.240 your left and the right wheel to your right, there's 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:51.160 a bar that comes straight up vertically from the platform. Uh. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.880 Their handlebars handle bars that you hold on to, and 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.079 then when you when you lean, it moves. When you 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.880 lean forward, it starts to move forward. When you lean backward, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.560 it stops. If you lean back enough, it'll go backward 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.120 a little bit. But it's um and uh and and 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.880 the new models these days, when you tilt the handlebars, 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.639 that is how you steer. Yeah, And the original one, 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.880 you would twist one of the handlebars, the right handlebars, 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.200 so rapping a motorcycle style exactly. And if you if 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.880 you twisted, if you twisted one way, it would turn left, 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:20.520 and you twist the other way, it turns right. And 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.519 the way it turns is kind of cool. Uh. When 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.840 you lean forward, both wheels engage and start moving forward simultaneously. Correct. 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.920 When you turn, only one wheel starts to move in 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.160 one direction and the other wheel allows you to pivot 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.960 on on a dine right right. Yeah, it's a turning 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.680 radius of zero zero turning radius, which is pretty amazing. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.080 And uh, we'll talk about what he intended this device 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.280 to do in the second half, I think, but first 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.720 we wanted to kind of talk about the actual technology 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.200 that makes this possible. And Dean came in. Before he 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.080 had gone into developing the Segway, had already started to 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.280 work on some pretty cool systems. He did some work 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.760 on on motorized wheelchairs that were capable of doing things 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.800 like climbing up staircases, and that work kind of led 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.840 him to the idea of what if I created a 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:14.360 device that could transport people at a good clip, uh, 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.480 and make it so that it it works on the 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.440 same principle as what it's like when you're walking, so 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:26.840 when you're yeah, exactly, it works in a way that 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.039 feels natural to us. Although I will tell you the 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:33.000 first time you get on a segway, nothing feels natural 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:34.839 about it. I haven't actually been on one. You have, 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.400 I have, I've done I've I've been on a segway. 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.120 I really enjoyed it. I had a great time. But 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.880 have you ever engaged in an activity where the first 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.880 step requires you to do something that feels totally unnatural 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.159 to you, so that there's like your body is actually 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.560 resisting what you have to do. But basically that's me 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.040 walking every day. But I mean, but, but for for example, 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.719 when I switched from a W A S D keyboard 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:04.080 uh First Person Shooters to Xbox controller, I was like, 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.359 what is this? See? For me? What I think of 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.920 is like the first time when I was a little 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.440 kid that I ever tried snorkeling, because I put my 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.440 face in the water and my body's telling me, for 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:20.880 goodness sakes, man, whatever you do, don't breathe. Then you're underwater, 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.479 and you know, my my breast of my brain is saying, foolish, scary, 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.440 reptile brain, that's not anything to worry about. You have 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.640 a tube to the air which is unobstructed. You can 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.359 breathe all you like. And it took that leaped not literally, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.400 I didn't literally leap, but no, yeah, I couldn't get 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.760 enough traction. But it took that mental leap to get 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:46.599 to a point where I felt comfortable. Same sort of 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:48.760 thing on a segue, because the way it works is 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.480 that you start to lean forward as if you're going 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.960 to take a step. Because basically what walking is is 0:05:54.960 --> 0:06:00.080 controlled falling. You're you're you're throwing the upper part of 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:04.040 your body forward. You're you're essentially unbalancing yourself and counting 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:08.800 on one leg or the other hypothetically to catch it. Right, Yeah, 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.480 you just you're constantly catching yourself with your legs. You're 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:13.800 you know, especially if you're if you're walking at a 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.040 good pace, you know, you'll see people they're leaning into 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:19.160 it and uh, and that weight is what's helping them 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.560 propel forward. And then they swing a leg out, which 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.440 catches them, stops them from falling, and they use that 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.039 leg to push them forward, and then the other leg 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.360 and so on and so forth. And it's something that 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.000 we once we start to learn how to walk, it 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.479 just becomes natural to us. We don't even think about it. 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:35.960 All right, right, Well, we've got all kinds of a 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.560 really really intricate inner ear sensory mechanisms to tell us 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:41.920 when we're balanced and when we're off balanced and how 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.360 everything is going, it's a really it's such an automatic 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.360 process that when you're not too you're not thinking about it. Yeah. 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.240 And what's also funny is that that that same system 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.120 of sensors that we have in our brain. Well, two 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.120 things are funny. One thing is that a lot of 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.000 that informed Dean Cayman when he was designing the segue. 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.080 He wanted to have a mechanic coal means to sort 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.560 of recreate that. And the other thing is that these 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:08.280 sensors are not fails. They're they're not foolproof. We we 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.320 can fool ourselves. Uh. This is partially what leads us 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.559 to things like motion sickness, where we get one set 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.800 of input from a set of senses telling us one thing, 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.240 and a different set of input from other senses telling 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:25.920 us another thing. And that that conflict makes our brains say, Okay, 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.560 if that's how you're gonna play it, we're losing lunch. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:34.120 That's it. Uh. Someone who has suffered from from car 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:38.560 sickness motion sickness that way, strangely enough, never got sea sick. 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.720 But I've been motion sick from a car before. But anyway, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.840 so the the they are fallible, these systems in our 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.200 our brains and in the segway. As it turns out. 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.560 So Dean Cayman wanted to create the segue in such 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:56.840 a way that it would require you to lean forward 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:58.680 as if you were going to take a step, and 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:00.920 that would be the indicator to move right and then 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.000 and then sort of trust in the machine. I imagine 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.640 that that's where you have your initial problem, because you're 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.920 you're you're leaning forward and you're not catching yourself. Yeah, 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.720 and you know you've already been told, You've already been told, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.760 do not take your foot off the platform to step 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.840 and catch yourself, because then you run yourself over. So 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:23.240 not only do you not a helmet at the time, hypothetically, yes, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:24.800 I was wearing a helmet at the time, and that 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:28.280 was that was that was a requirement. I want to 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.440 say that I was at Disney when I did this. 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.800 It was at some park and I think it was Disney, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.040 and it was It was not the full epcut tour, 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.640 which we can talk about. I've got a little factoid 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.240 on that. Uh, there is a tour that very popular 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.680 tour at Epcot that uses segways. It wasn't that it 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.120 was just a little like familiarize yourself with this technology thing, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.000 and I was like, I've always wanted to do this, 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:52.559 and that's when I tried it. So I've only done 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.320 at the one time, and I really would love to 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:57.800 have more time with it because it was an interesting experience. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.839 But yes, it requires you to move forward as if 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:03.720 you were going to take a step, but not take 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.600 your weight completely off your foot, just lean forward as 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.400 if you were about to start walking, and that makes 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:13.400 the segway go, which is kind of cool. Um. Now, 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.920 the way it does that is it has a complex 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:20.320 system of gyroscopes inside to kind of let it know 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:25.000 what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. Right. 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.960 It has five gyroscopes. In fact, technically it's really only 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.800 using three of them. Two of them are fail safe. Yeah. Yeah. 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.240 Three of them are meant to detect things like forward, 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.520 leaning forward, leaning backward, and tilt to the left or right. Right. Okay, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:39.320 but so, so a gyroscope. Let's talk about what a 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.400 gyroscope is because a little bit integral. Yeah. Um, So 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.959 it's basically just a spinning wheel inside a frame. Yeah, 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.920 the frame itself is stable and free. The spinning wheel 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:55.600 has um Well, it's rotating around an axis, right, so 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.200 you've got the access at the center of the wheel. 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.079 The wheel rotates, and then it was it was this 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:05.719 changes forces that would change the alignment of that gyroscope 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.320 so well, because if you push on the on the 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:12.920 spinning wheel, it's just going to transfer into it's it's 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.760 called precessing. This is a really this is an interesting thing. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.240 It's actually it's one of those things that's kind of 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.400 difficult to explain in an audio podcast. First of all, 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.160 let me tell you that at how stuff works dot 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.080 com we have an article on how gyroscopes work, which 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.240 includes video showing what I'm about to talk about. So 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:33.920 if you have trouble visualizing what I'm about to explain, 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.680 despite the fact that we're both gesticulating wildly, yeah, really, 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.520 I mean, there's only so much I can get across 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.320 in radio, right, but you can go there and look 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.800 it up. But what the gyroscope does is this whole 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.480 thing of precessing is imagine that you have a bicycle 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:52.880 wheel suspended from a string strings tied to the ceiling somewhere. 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.640 The bicycle wheels hanging down the the string is tied 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:58.760 to the axis of the wheel, so it could still 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.920 spin freely. Okay, got it. Now, if you were to 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.680 align that wheel so it's vertical relative to the ground, 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:07.760 so the wheel is as if it was on a 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.640 bicycle that you were riding down the streets. Okay. The 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.040 string is tied to one side of that axis, so 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.040 there's a string that's coming down on one side of 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:17.600 the access to the other side of the access doesn't 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.480 have a string tied to it, so there's nothing to 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:21.800 keep it vertical. If you were to just let go, 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:26.040 that wheel would flop down into the horizontal uh formation. 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.080 It would just be parallel to the ground. Correct more 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.280 or less. If you were to turn it vertical and 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:34.480 then start spinning the wheel, it would remain vertical and 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.280 it would slowly begin to rotate around the string. So 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.600 that's the precession, is that it's rotating around a different 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.120 access perpendicular to the one of its main motion. Now, 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.240 why is it staying vertical as opposed to flopping over? 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.800 The reason for that is that if you were to 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.559 uh apply a force to say, uh, let's say you've 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.439 got the bicycle wheel spinning in your arms. Okay, you're 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.720 you're holding the you're holding the exis in front of you, 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.800 and the wheel is vertical, and you've got spinning. You 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.120 can do this. I've seen science museums that have had 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.679 this where you sit in a swivel chair and you 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.040 hold the bicycle wheel in front of you, like you 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:14.920 extend your arms out so that the wheel can spin 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.880 freely in front of you. If you try and tilt 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.320 that wheel, you'll feel resistance. And the reason for that 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.600 is that imagine that, uh, you know, take a still image, 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.000 like you're able to freeze time. Okay, I can, so 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.319 all right, well that's good, and you're going to tilt 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.400 the wheel so that the top of the wheel from 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.920 your perspective would be moving to the left and the 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:36.880 bottom of the wheel would be moving to the right. 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.320 You're tilting it on a diagonal. Okay. Now, as that 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.400 wheel is spinning the point where you would be turning 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.680 it to the left, that that's you're replying a force 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.840 to that section. So imagine imagine a spot at the 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.560 very top of the wheel, at the vertical apex of 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.160 that wheel. Okay, that's where you're applying the force to 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.840 move to the left. Now, the wheel is actually spinning, 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.960 So if we were to jump ahead twenty frames. Now 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.319 the point is directly in front of the wheel. It's 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.600 no longer at the top. It is rotated around to 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.920 be in the front, and uh, it still wants to 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:13.079 go toward the left. Go ahead another twenty frames. Now 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.040 the point is at the bottom of the wheel. It 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.120 still wants to go to the left. But the force 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.280 you're applying is trying to make the bottom of the 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.240 wheel go to the right. So the force you're applying 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.360 is trying to push the wheels direction in one way. 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.640 But because that reference point was at the top at 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.920 the beginning and it's still trying to go to the 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:33.599 left from when you were applying the force at the 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.560 very beginning, those two forces cancel each other out. It 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.880 resists the force to make it move in a different direction. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.280 And uh, then you also have the precession. So if 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.160 you're singing a swivel chair, you start to spin around. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.720 It's kind of fun. Uh, this is a great cheap 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:53.120 way to entertain small children. Um, anyway, it's an interesting 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.400 just an interesting fact of physics is that the gyroscope 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.360 in this this stable frame will react in this way. 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.560 But so okay, so, so the point of gyroscopes being 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.160 in devices like this is that if you measure the 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.080 position of the spinning wheel inside of its frame, you 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.800 can determine the pitch and the pitch rate. Yeah, exactly, 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.559 You're you're looking at like the the frame itself can 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:20.320 move freely within the confines of whatever it is you're 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.000 talking right, whether it's it could be a segue, it 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.840 could be an airplane, it could be a phone um 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.920 and so it can move freely within that context. And 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.440 it maybe a solid state drive, as is the case 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.080 with the segue, it may not be an actual physical 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.680 generos And well we'll get into that in just a second, right, 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:38.520 And uh, but if you're able to do that in 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.520 such a way, then the gyroscope and the pitch detection 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:47.880 will allow the will give enough information so that some 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.920 sort of processor can take that information in and know 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.720 what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.480 So by detecting these changes and by detecting the forces 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.840 that are in acting upon these different gyroscopes, the segue 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.760 can interpret that and say, oh, I should engage the 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.280 motor to drive forward, or I should stop, or I 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.040 should move backward backward exactly, or I should I should 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.640 probably put up a warning because this guy is really 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.760 leaning over a bit too far right, right, Um, but 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:21.680 so so yeah, So the kind of gyroscopes that are 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.760 that are in a segway. Are these solid state angular 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.680 rate sensors? Yes, that that are basically the way that 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.520 I understand. It's a little silicon plate. Yes, And I 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.440 think I actually said that the correct way the first time. Yes, 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:39.680 you did silicon not silicone. You're exactly right, two separate issues. Um. 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:43.760 And so it's a it's a silicon silicon plate mounted 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.160 on the support frame. And uh, you run, You run 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:49.920 an electrostatic current across the plate and wiggles the silicon 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.320 particles around and makes the plate as a whole vibrate 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.480 in a very predictable way. Um. And when there's a 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.280 physical change in the forces, uh, meaning when you've tilted 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.600 in some way. Yeah. Yeah, when when you physically move 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:08.400 the plate on its access access Yes, talking is great. 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.480 The particles suddenly shift and the vibration changes, right, And 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.480 by changing of vibration, you know that there's a change 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.000 in the state that you are in, whether that's a 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.920 tilt or you know, whatever other thing you might have. 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:21.680 This gyroscope. And but in the case of the segway. 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.880 We're talking about specifically the tilt of the segway itself. Right, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:26.480 So if you hook a computer up to this, that 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:30.760 can measure the precise change, right and interpret it exactly. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.160 So if it says like, oh, it's changed a little bit, 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.640 like the vibration has changed a little bit, indicating that 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.160 the person is starting to lean forward time to engage 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.640 the motors. If it's changed a lot, it might mean 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.240 that the person has leaned forward pretty hard, which indicates 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.000 that you should move at a faster pace. So you've 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.320 got these motors that will engage in order to activate 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.360 the wheels, and the wheels begin to turn and that's 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.720 where you get the motion. So the thing that's keeping 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.600 this all going is um. You know, you've got the 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.360 gyroscopic sensors that's giving the information. But then you have 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.760 two circuit boards that have controllers on them as ten 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:08.479 microprocessors total in the original segue, and those microprocessors are 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.640 what's taking in all this information and uh and and 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.440 translating it into action. Yeah. Yeah, that that first one. UM, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.800 the microprocessors would check the position sensors about a hundred 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.520 times per second, that's right. Yeah, so that way it 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.679 can make sure that it's giving the right information to 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.800 the motors so that you're you're moving at the right 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:31.280 speed compared to how you are how you're physically manipulating 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.480 the segue right, right, It's it's also gotten there um 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.480 a couple of tilt sensors filled with electrolyte fluid, electrolytes 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:41.480 being of course what plants crave, thank you bond, which 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:43.880 which is again just like your inner ear. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.080 it's your inner ear has fluid in it, and that's 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:50.199 what helps you determine what your orientation is relative to 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.400 your environment. This is why one of the reasons why 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:58.200 when people go up in the vomit comet, that's why 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.159 it's called that, because when you're in the vomit commet, 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.200 you're you're the sensory information you're getting from your eyes 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.200 and from your your you know, what you're feeling is 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:09.480 so different from what your inner ear is trying to 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.600 make sense of when this fluid is suddenly yeah, yeah, 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:14.840 it's basically you've just got this little sensor in your 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:16.760 head where you've got a level of fluid, and that 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.439 is how you calibrate yourself to the ground by based 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.359 on on where the fluid is tilting right and in 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.480 a freefall motion. That that information ends up being a 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.800 little weird, and so a lot of people end up 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.200 again losing their lunch, which is why they often refer 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:35.080 to the planes that take these these flights as the 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:38.480 vomit commet. Yeah, but it is interesting that the segue 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:40.840 itself has this electoral life. Not you don't have to 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.760 worry about your segue losing its lunch. Don't worry about 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.400 that part. That part similarity has now ended. But other 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.960 than that, it is using a very similar approach to 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.480 detect tilt as the way humans do, which again kind 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.400 of cool that Dean Camean is taking taking direction from 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.200 the way our bodies do stuff to help inform him 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.879 on the way he makes technology. I blame it on 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:06.280 his extensive medical background. Yeah, and again the Luke arm 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.400 another example of that. Right, he's taking that that how 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.200 do humans do things and how can we make technology 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.280 that emulates this? He was also when he was in college, 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:18.280 he was the first He invented the first drug injection 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.520 pump and later the first portable insulin pump, which is 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.720 part of how he made such such Anne and the 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.720 cool thing to me is that it's obvious that what 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.399 drives him is a desire to innovate and to help people, 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.280 and he talks very passionately. There's some really really good 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.800 interviews with him will Lincome on social where he's talking 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.960 about watching people use his inventions for the first time 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.480 and and them kind of you know, people who haven't 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.840 been able to move this way ever and in some 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.920 cases and them and just the amount of pride and 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.160 and just awesome that happens, and the fact that that 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:56.639 that is what what really uh gives him an incentive 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.560 to continue. Yeah, it's pretty interesting stuff. It's it's a 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:01.959 really cool story. And in fact, there's a whole section 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.200 of the Segway story that we need to get into, 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.880 which involves the whole hype issue and a little bit 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.040 more about the the original Segway models that came out 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.160 and uh and some controversy that Segue has had over 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:16.240 the years. We'll talk about that in just a minute, 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.280 but first, before we do that, let's take a quick 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:22.000 moment to thank our sponsor. Let's segue back into our episode. 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:26.639 I couldn't resist, and so just a few more facts 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.520 about the original Segue. Keep in mind, they've made several 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.679 different models over the course of the segway's life. But 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.680 the earlier ones they had a top speed of about 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:39.879 twelve and a half miles per hour, which is around 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.399 twenty kilometers per hour, right, I think, and I think 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.720 in some other countries it was maybe thirteen and a half. 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:47.800 But but yes, yeah, yeah, it all depended on well, 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.399 I also depend on what which model you had, because 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.159 they did, they did do a range of them. We 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:55.600