KAIST shows off "Hubo-Way" Segway derivative
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 23rd 2007 4:21PM
posted May 23rd 2007 4:21PM
Having already accomplished the considerable feat of getting a robot to balance on its own two feet, engineers at Korea's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (otherwise known as KAIST) now appears to have turned their attention to us humans, although they haven't exactly taken the most original approach. As you can see above, the Institute's so-called "Hubo-Way" takes a fair bit of inspiration from the Segway, although the technology has supposedly been "modified" to some extent. From the looks of it, the most significant of those modifications is the actual cost of the device, which the engineers say is half that of the Segway. Of course, there's no indication as to when or if the device might actually be commercialized, so it looks like you'll have to be content with the current crop of Segway-esque if you're not willing to throw down for the real thing.
I think gasoline will have to hit $5/gallon before americans realize a small electric car/scooter can actually substitute for their SUV in most cases. In moments I predict all the "comicbook guys," ala Simpsons, who drive their SUV 2 miles to work each day and then sit at a computer posting on Engadget, will add their comments about people who ride Segways are "lazy" and "geeky."
I think Segways are for lazy and geeky people.
And I don't drive an SUV. I drive a gas guzzling Benz.
Good. I always felt the Segway was grossly overpriced.
I heard some people in Africa came up with this even better device that's not just half as cheap but infinitely cheaper. They call it the FreeWay. Basically, you put one foot in front of the other, then you repeat the procedure as needed.
And when you're done commuting, you can mow the lawn with it...
what bothers me about this form-factor: you're constantly standing. That alone makes a trip far less enjoyable. Bikes: you're sitting down.
Assuming the terrain is not too challenging, with bikes you're actually enjoying cycling lightly to get where you want. With these things, you're standing but essentially put to slave status and fully reliant on your battery and its power limitations (and waste as it gets tossed out when it dies), and top speed of the device, with no option to even use legpower when it makes sense.
Seems to me an electric bike would make far more sense to the majority of those wanting to get around semi-assisted. If they worked on getting the prices and tech better for those, maybe we'd have a mini-revolution (har) in the big cities...
Perhaps the thing costs half the price but it looks like its less than half the quality. If you have ever seen a Segway upclose you will realize how well its built. The Segway also has redundant systems so you don't fall flat on your face in the event of a fault.
This thing looks less futuristic than the SegWay, in fact it looks fugly. I hope the prototype explodes in a huge purple fireball and gets damaged beyond all recognition.
hubo means heir in korean... so even the name is an homage to segway. They are saying this is the heir of the segway in a sense, funny korean students... har har.
Segways have a 24 mile range . . . they are not meant to replace walking, they're meant to prevent you from getting in a car to go 4 miles down the road. Wouldn't you say getting is a car for that is more lazy than taking a Segway/other non-gas alternative. How often to you guys go out and walk 8 miles?
I go out and run 8 to 12 miles several times a week. WTF. What do you do?