The Zero-Emissions One-Wheeled Motorcycle | Hacker News Reader

The Zero-Emissions One-Wheeled Motorcycle

popsci.com

38 pointsfunctionoid20 comments

The Uno accelerates with a simple lean and turns like a street bike on side-by-side wheels

Call me pedantic, but doesn't it have two wheels?

What advantages does this have over a standard bicycle? Is it solving a problem that doesn't exist?

Advantages listed in the article are that they take up less space and are easier to maneuver which are good things for crowded cities.

I believe the main point was the zero-emissions.

Being all-electric means it will cause some emissions though, whereas a bicycle doesn't have emit any at all (although you could say it's powered by human-energy which in turn is powered by other things)

I read somewhere that if you eat meat (I assume they were talking about beef) then its actually better for the environment co2 wise to just drive.

That was this old article...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2195...

But it was discussing walking, not riding (far more efficient), and used common milk as the calorie provision (effectively a worst-case scenario).

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html

Please read this. Eating meat is the largest factor for green house gases. So if you want to go Green stop eating meat.

It's not a startup. It has been made for fun, although it may evolve into something else.

Even not all startup solve a problem. They may be a value addition or for fun.

Silliness. Inspired design creates simple solutions for complex problems. That thing is a complex solution for a simple problem. Or perhaps it's a complex solution without any problem at all.

Anyone who wants to positively impact individual's transportation issues should be working on battery development, and similar technology.

Whoever designed this is obviously a fan of Venus Wars:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm705206528/tt0135037

Anyone who looks at that thing and thinks it's not going to be a hit is not a money man. To quote the sopranos - I know a hit when I see it.

That motorbike would sell like hot cakes because it's extremely cool. People who ride motorbikes care about coolness. And a one wheeled motorbike is the epitome.

But frankly, I'd be scared to ride something like that which is balanced by electronics.

I second that fear. Remember the Segway bug that caused the motors to spontaneously reverse? Imagine that on the highway at 60mph.

There's no fear of catastrophic failure at 60mph on the highway, if its motors are only capable of a top speed of 40mph. It's not a highway vehicle.

Aerospace has used fly-by-wire computer-controlled unstable vehicles for years. I trust a well-designed computer more than I do an average motorist.

40mph can still kill.

The problem is the belief that is hardwired into the humans basic instincts about balance. We see the bike and we see balance problems and danger (not that this doesn't have that) but they probably thought of that and are working on it.

That's not really why I'm scared. ICs are affected by lots of things. What if there is a power surge? What if there is a burst of static energy?

Computers fry, even those in Nasa Spaceships. So the one in that device could also fry, and cause me a tumble on the highway. Which would be, to say the least, uncomfortable.

Transportation has been in the post-functionality age for a few decades now. Getting from A to B is taken for granted, and choice of vehicle is almost entirely driven by aesthetics and style. And it makes a huge difference. Try going on a date in an M3, or a 1987 Firebird, or an xB, and see the different reactions you get.

This vehicle is relevant because it's a genuinely new thing, in a field which only sees about 1 new idea per decade. (not to channel Zuckerberg here or anything...)

This machine is dangerous. Physics speaking: it will require a good balance and adherence point is one. Conclusion falling off it is highly probable with great damage to the body.

It's really ingenious, except for the fact that the 2 wheels are side-by-side instead of balancing each other automagically (in some other strange, and surely 'too simple', arrangement).

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