Which technology used in the manufacturing of Segways?

 

The Science Behind the Technology

[Segways]When Dean Kamen first introduced the Segway Personal Transporter (PT) on ABC's "Good Morning America" ​​show, he described the device as "the world's first self-balancing means of transport for people." If you look at the device in motion, you understand what he means. Unlike a car, the Segway only has two wheels. The special thing about it: he is able to stand upright independently.

To move forwards or backward on the Segway PT, the rider leans slightly forwards or backward. To steer left or right, the driver simply moves the LeanSteer handlebar to the left or right.

How Dynamic Stabilization Works

The ability to independently maintain balance is the most fascinating feature of the Segway PT and is the key to using it. To understand how this system works, it is helpful to look at Kamen's model for the device - the human body.

If you get up and lean forward so far that you lose your balance, you usually won't fall on your face. The brain knows that you are out of balance because the fluid in your inner ear has moved. So it makes you move your foot forward to avoid falling. As long as you lean forward, the brain will keep moving your feet forward. Instead of falling, you go forward, one step at a time.

The Segway PT does pretty much the same thing, with the difference that it has wheels instead of feet, a motor instead of muscles, a collection of microprocessors instead of a brain, and a group of sophisticated balance sensors instead of the sense of balance in the inner ear. Like our brain, the Segway PT knows when to lean forward. To maintain balance, it turns the wheels at exactly the right speed and you move forward. Segway calls this behavior "Dynamic Stabilization" and has patented this unique process that enables the Segway PT to maintain balance on only two wheels.

The brain and the muscles

The Segway PT consists of an intelligent network of sensors, mechanical components, a drive system and control systems. The moment you step on the device, five gyroscope sensors and two acceleration sensors begin to analyze the terrain and your body position 100 times per second.

Segway PTs use a special solid-state angle sensor. This type of gyroscope sensor assesses the rotation of an object on a very small scale, taking into account the Coriolis effect.

The Coriolis force describes the effect that moving bodies are deflected in a rotating reference system from the point of view of a co-rotating observer. For example, if you observe an airplane that appears to be flying in a straight line, this line appears curved because the earth is moving below.

The Segway PT has five gyroscope sensors, although it would only need three to shift weight forward and backward (called "pitch"), weight to shift left and right (called "roll"), and steer left or right (" yaw "called) to measure. The additional sensors are used for redundancy to make the product even more reliable. The information about the driver's weight shift and his steering movements are forwarded to the "brain" of the Segway PT together with the information from additional tilt angle sensors.

The brain consists of two redundant electronic circuit boards, each equipped with a group of microprocessors. The batteries and motor windings are also duplicated. [Buy Ebike UK] These work together and share the workload necessary to drive them. The Segway PT also has a few additional microprocessors. The vehicle needs so much computing capacity because it has to make precise calculations in the shortest possible time to prevent it from tipping over. If a circuit board fails while driving (or the associated battery, motor windings, or wiring), the other half takes over all functions. The system informs the driver of the error and can be deactivated in a controlled manner.

The microprocessors are used by advanced software that controls the vehicle. This program monitors all information arriving from the gyroscope sensors and adjusts the speed of the electric motors accordingly. The electric motors, which are powered by two rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, can move each wheel independently at different speeds.

When the vehicle is leaned forward, the motors move both wheels forward to prevent it from tipping over. When the vehicle is tilted backward, the motors move both wheels backward. When the driver flips the LeanSteer handlebar to turn left or right, the motors move one wheel faster than the other or move the wheels in opposite directions to make the vehicle turn. While driving, the Segway PT steers exactly the right curve radius, which is necessary to maintain balance while taking the centrifugal forces into account.