Post by JerryScript on Feb 12, 2015 2:17:30 GMT -5
I was watching a few videos about various self-balancing motorcycles in development. It occurred to me that most scooter designs have a perfect location for a balancing gyroscope like those used in some of these self-balancing designs, the floor board area. Not all have usable space in the down there, some have gas tanks or radiator assemblies, but I believe enough do have the room. My 50cc has the battery and CDI down there, but that could easily be relocated, my 150cc has nothing but usable space down there.
The idea is you have a roughly 40lb gyroscope spinning to constantly stabilize the scooter, attached to the frame with a bolt on adjustable spring suspension (flat spring, not coils). A perfect setup would have linkage attached to the steering column that would tilt the attaching structure to allow for leaning in turns without fighting the gyroscope's power, counter steering probably wont work exactly the same regardless. The gyroscope itself would need to be housed in something like a carbon-fiber shell to protect the rider in case of catastrophic failure, but hey we are already riding with an engine capable of exploding underneath us as is, so I don't think safety is beyond simple engineering here.
It's pretty amazing what a 40lb gyroscope can do, here's a video of one of the self-balancing motorcycle prototypes using one (has two, but one is a backup), jump ahead to the 2 minute mark to see one staying upright with the wheels being pulled out from under it by a SUV:
Here's a video of one of the self-balancing prototypes being driven by a driver with no motorcycle training, and later showing one being driven through a slalom course showing it does lean in cornering:
This isn't high tech, I think it might actually be doable! What do you think?
The idea is you have a roughly 40lb gyroscope spinning to constantly stabilize the scooter, attached to the frame with a bolt on adjustable spring suspension (flat spring, not coils). A perfect setup would have linkage attached to the steering column that would tilt the attaching structure to allow for leaning in turns without fighting the gyroscope's power, counter steering probably wont work exactly the same regardless. The gyroscope itself would need to be housed in something like a carbon-fiber shell to protect the rider in case of catastrophic failure, but hey we are already riding with an engine capable of exploding underneath us as is, so I don't think safety is beyond simple engineering here.
It's pretty amazing what a 40lb gyroscope can do, here's a video of one of the self-balancing motorcycle prototypes using one (has two, but one is a backup), jump ahead to the 2 minute mark to see one staying upright with the wheels being pulled out from under it by a SUV:
Here's a video of one of the self-balancing prototypes being driven by a driver with no motorcycle training, and later showing one being driven through a slalom course showing it does lean in cornering:
This isn't high tech, I think it might actually be doable! What do you think?
