Self-stabilizing bike stabilizes bikers who can't stabilize themselves

The bicycle -- whether electric, rocket-powered or simply sporting Bluetooth -- is certainly looking a lot better these days, and now researchers at Yokohama's Keio University have devised a way to keep the vehicle upright without the help of a human operator. The otherwise typical bicycle sits on a set of rollers and is equipped with two motors: one moves the rear wheel an average of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) per second while the other controls the handlebars. A linux controller keeps an eye things via webcam and gyro sensor, steering the vehicle and adjusting its speed as necessary. Currently the bike is only able to stay upright when moving in a straight line, but soon enough we should see a system that can take corners and work in real world situations. Because why should people with an adequate sense of balance have all the fun?

[konshuss @ Nov 4th 2008 3:31PM]

From the Department of Redundan...whoaa!*crash*

[konshuss @ Nov 4th 2008 3:33PM]

when this tech takes off, imagine someone stealing your bike and simply radio-controlling them at top speed into the police station... or a wall.

[konshuss @ Nov 4th 2008 3:46PM]

uh, i take it you're voting for mccain.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 3:58PM]

prolly not voting for "That One"

[Jinto @ Nov 4th 2008 4:01PM]

Bigots vote for Obama too. People can hate on all skin colors/races/sexes, not just black.

No matter what the political beliefs of the candidates, we should not be biased against them because of their color or sex, but we should vote for a candidate based on what we believe. This is and what should be the basis for the United State's election systems.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 4:04PM]

sure Jinto, because both campaigns have appealed equally to the bigotry vote. mhmm.

[Valicore @ Nov 4th 2008 4:13PM]

Wow @ the "nigga" thing, that was so incredibly inappropriate. I do agree with Jinto however... I for example am voting for Obama, but I wont criticize people who vote for McCain because I know they believe he'll do a better job than Obama, just like I think Obama will do a better job than McCain. I have to remind some of my friends that "you can't be tolerant if you're intolerant of the intolerant."

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 4th 2008 4:39PM]

Yes. The headline was very redundant. But it was also very redundant, too.

[Lost Creation @ Nov 9th 2008 4:23PM]

*swoosh* That was the sound of the reference going over your heads.

While I won't argue the appropriateness of Erb's comment, he's probably not the villain you folks are making him out to be. Likely he was referring to an old YTMND that shows the bike training scene from Punch Out with a a looping music track. I'm sure everyone here can guess the lyrics.

If you want to see it, google "punch out stole my bike" -- NSFW goes without saying.

[deusex @ Nov 4th 2008 5:40PM]

Tolerance is soo gay!

[Rufus White @ Nov 4th 2008 5:43PM]

I'm surprised nobody thought about the fact that Erb might, in fact be black himself, in which case the n word would be absolutely fine and dandy.

That's something I can never get my head round - a white person uses the n word, and all hell breaks loose, people are calling for resignations, heads on sticks, apologies, castration (delete as appropriate). A black person uses it, and it's grounds for a platinum record, because it's edgy. White people are allowed to listen to and even buy said record (thus propagating the word further into the public's consciousness), but woe betide if they utter the lyrics in public. If we're to live in a colour-free world, *either* there has to be a ban across the board (especially in the media) of the word, or everybody should be able to use it equally to the point where it's no longer edgy and therefore has no "coolness" attached to it. The more we draw attention to a word (by getting up in arms every time it's used), the more we ingrain racism in our society by making us question the reasons we're up in arms about it. What amuses me is the fact that where I live now (Spain), and where I grew up (UK), black people deal with this word on a daily basis, and just get on with their lives. It's white people that are driving the media frenzy and angry mobs every time it gets used.

[konshuss @ Nov 4th 2008 5:59PM]

thanks for not getting the joke, guys. also, who cares what race Erb is? He's just a bunch of text on this website, and whether or not it was a reference to a YTMND of Punchout, it was still dumb and racist. Earning a point for making A reference is negated by it being a really stupid one.

[Dead_Rebel @ Nov 4th 2008 3:31PM]

That's just lazy.

[Lars @ Nov 4th 2008 7:13PM]

I think it's a good thing though. I mean, healthy people don't need it obviously. But for certain others, like the elderly, it could be a way to get around on cheap transportation (or perhaps just for exercise) without worrying about falling and breaking a hip.

Oh and let's not forget the narcoleptic. "Wheeeee- Zzzzzzz..." CRASH!

[Marcus @ Nov 4th 2008 3:32PM]

Very explanatory headline there yes.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 3:35PM]

hey look sharp corner! gonna start my lean, HEY WTF? AHHHhhhhhhhh...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[deyanimay @ Nov 4th 2008 3:41PM]

Lol that was hilarious.

[phanbouy fan fan @ Nov 4th 2008 4:28PM]

DAMN there you go being clever again. How is phanbouy fan supposed to get all sarcastic now?

[Gabe @ Nov 4th 2008 3:38PM]

Now if only we can implement that technology for something actually useful...

[Jonathan Keim @ Nov 4th 2008 3:42PM]

I got a novel idea... training wheels

[Jon Nelson @ Nov 4th 2008 3:47PM]

That's WAY too simple, cheap and affective

[tom @ Nov 4th 2008 3:50PM]

If an adult were to use it, it is totally uncool and humiliating. Toddlers can use them to impress others, i guess?

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 4:09PM]

@Tom

yeah because nothing says attracting the fly honies than this runty cabley gyro trike

[maveric101 @ Nov 4th 2008 6:19PM]

or you could learn to ride a bike.

[kal326 @ Nov 4th 2008 10:37PM]

Here's another novel idea. Keep moving, the bike stays up virtually on its own that way. When you stop moving put your feet down. I just saved you a ton of money and years of research.

[Alex @ Nov 4th 2008 3:45PM]

Joseph.. Joseph.. Joseph..... Do you ever post about anything other than little tidbits of information informing us of inventions that nobody really cares about? Most of the other bloggers post gadget news.. but not you.. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen you post anything that could be considered "news".

Just sayin'.

[thatrotierkid @ Nov 4th 2008 3:41PM]

i personally welcome his posts as they are a breath of fresh air over the same old stuff that gets posted all the time. i find it fascinating to see what research groups are working on.

[deyanimay @ Nov 4th 2008 3:43PM]

Um click on his name to see his posts then come back and blame the comment system for making you post some bs.

[Alex @ Nov 4th 2008 3:46PM]

I know... I take back (some) of the last part. He has posted a few relevant posts in the past few days.. but the majority of his posts are still way out in left field.

[deyanimay @ Nov 4th 2008 4:22PM]

You know what i feel bad now, sorry for being so harsh.

[Valicore @ Nov 4th 2008 4:24PM]

Huh... just because you don't care about them doesn't mean no one cares about them. You're not forced to read his posts, and they don't exactly negatively affect your life significantly (if they do you're screwed anyway). I for one like variety and choice, if there wasn't stuff like this, all the tech blogs would be the exact same thing.

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 4th 2008 5:15PM]

Your avatar looks like the bastard child of Christopher Walken and E.T.

[Diego @ Nov 4th 2008 6:25PM]

Or Brian Peppers...

[Lars @ Nov 4th 2008 7:17PM]

Pray tell Alex, what do you consider "news"?

Personally I come to Engadget for this type of stuff and not the crap like "new Mac unboxing!" or "PMP disassembled!" I can't believe THAT stuff qualifies as "news".

[E30 @ Nov 4th 2008 3:53PM]

An engineer at the uni I go to (UVic) invented a water bottle sized bike-balancing-device. It clips to the frame near the seatpost, and you can keep your feet on the pedals indefinitely while it does all that tricky balancing for you. Of course it doesn't propel you at 9 km/h, but I think we all agree that electric bicycles are the height of redundancy.

[Rob @ Nov 4th 2008 3:57PM]

Um, hello? Wheels are gyroscopes and, along with proper trail and rake, make a two wheeled vehicle self balancing. Duh.

[E30 @ Nov 4th 2008 4:00PM]

Only self balancing at speed. Duh. The one I was talking about works at a stop, not sure about the stabilizing stabilizer, but hopefully it does as well.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 4:14PM]

the stabilizing stabilizer stabilizes speed surreptitiously

[Timmy P. @ Nov 4th 2008 3:57PM]

DRUNK BIKE RIDING. Thats what it can be used for, no more DUIs just BUIs, Biking under the influence..

[John @ Nov 4th 2008 4:01PM]

I think this problem was solved long ago when someone added a third wheel to the cycle and EUREKA, the bike just seemed to stabilize itself. Of course that wasn't as cool because nobody thought to GPL the concept.

[Aguiluz @ Nov 4th 2008 4:06PM]

I'd take a trike.

[Valicore @ Nov 4th 2008 4:19PM]

I still remember my trike from when I was like 3,4,5 years old. I loved that thing, it was a magnificent beast :) Ohhhh the memories...

[E30 @ Nov 4th 2008 4:50PM]

Ever since I was like 3,4,5 years old riding my trike, I knew FWD sucks.

[g lie @ Nov 4th 2008 4:09PM]

seems pretty complicated. the one product i had seen which seems a lot more usable and simple is the gyrobike. http://thegyrobike.com/

[Valicore @ Nov 4th 2008 4:25PM]

What is the proposed use of this? Will it bicycle me to work while I sleep? Because that would be awesome.

[dosguy @ Nov 4th 2008 4:29PM]

Now if they could only invent something to keep people MENTALLY stable....

[Tdburn @ Nov 4th 2008 4:42PM]

Who needs a system to balance their bicycle? And a gas powered bicycle would be much cheaper I imagine.

[glenn s @ Nov 4th 2008 4:43PM]

Maybe all of the people making fun of this don't know anyone who could really benefit from it. My wife has inner ear damage from childhood and partial hearing loss. It also results in her having rather poor balance, since the sense of equilibrium comes from the inner ear. She can ride a bike alright, but cornering at any kind of speed is a problem for her (as is walking in a straight line). This technology could actually help people with some hearing loss. So does the wii balance board, by the way...

[Wes @ Nov 4th 2008 5:09PM]

Nah, Call me back when it can keep me upright when stationary, to prevent falling at traffic lights when I can't un-clip my cycling shoe from the pedal!

[Flobots @ Nov 4th 2008 6:57PM]

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars...