electric giraffe unicycle

I've ridden the electric unicycle that Trevor Blackwell created. It was
challenging to ride as a unicyclist. According to Trevor, nobody who
didn't already ride a unicycle could ride it.

hudson said:

'link to google video' (http://tinyurl.com/khmse)

is this for real? looks sorta cool - anyone know if he can ride
non-electric?

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mscalisi
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mscalisi said:

I've ridden the electric unicycle that Trevor Blackwell created. It was
challenging to ride as a unicyclist. According to Trevor, nobody who
didn't already ride a unicycle could ride it.

oooh. lucky! i've wanted to build an electric unicycle for some time.
that emanuel electric skateboard thing is really cool as well.

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ice_cold_uni6

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PM if you want in.

harper said:

read through MR? i'd rather drink bleach. it's more refreshing.

'**my sick gallery**'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/?g2_itemId=219882)
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You can find the parts list and source code here.

http://www.tlb.org/eunicycle.html

ice_cold_uni6 said:

oooh. lucky! i've wanted to build an electric unicycle for some time.
that emanuel electric skateboard thing is really cool as well.

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mscalisi
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wow, that is cool. i tink it would be possible, i figured it would just
work the same as a segway. i wish i had one!!

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I was doing a wheelie on my bike and figured why not buy a unicycle.
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In the video posted he seems to be controlling it by hand, unlike other
electric unicycles posted that have a segway style control system, does
anyone know either way? Quite impressed by the lack of bulky components
in this design, other ones posted on this forum have looked like a big
lump of technology with a wheel bolted on, rather than a unicycle with
some refinements.

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kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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Yes, the giraffe seems to be obviously under some sort of power other
than the rider, but you can't see where it's coming from. Either a tiny
motor or something in his backpack? No, there must be a motor somewhere
on the uni. The hand control may take the place of Trevor Blackwell's
software. This would make it much easier to build, and still require
plenty of skill to ride (not that the Blackwell design doesn't also
require plenty of skill to master).

I rode Trevor's electric uni as well. It's sort of like a Segway, but
it mostly isn't. A Segway stands up on its own. This one, if it starts
falling over, tries to correct by spinning the wheel wildly. It takes
some practice just to hold the thing when you're not on it. I think
once you learn the way it reacts, and get comfortable with the amount
of power it puts out, riding it probably gets pretty easy. But it would
definitely be tougher for non-unicyclists to learn to ride it.

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John Foss
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
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"The worst thing you can do on a unicycle when you land is stop dead."
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johnfoss said:

Either a tiny motor or something in his backpack?

But the batteries are in the backpack right?

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ThisGuyIKnow
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http://www.ebikes.ca/projects.shtml

[image: http://www.veva.bc.ca/rev/2006/photos/dc/pict3255.jpg]

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johnfoss said:

Yes, the giraffe seems to be obviously under some sort of power other
than the rider, but you can't see where it's coming from. Either a tiny
motor or something in his backpack? No, there must be a motor somewhere
on the uni.

The unicycle is powered by a hub motor, it's a direct drive DC machine
built into the wheel. I've got the batteries in my backpack in that
photo. They were originally mounted to a bracket on the stem but
weren't secured well enough to handle all the falling that happened.

johnfoss said:

The hand control may take the place of Trevor Blackwell's software. This
would make it much easier to build, and still require plenty of skill
to ride (not that the Blackwell design doesn't also require plenty of
skill to master).

The wire to my hand is just a kill switch, the control is all based on
tilt sensing inside the small plastic enclosure just above the wheel.
I've seen Trevor's unicycle and a few others from various universities,
but these were all pure electrics, and what I wanted to experiment with
is the idea of a power assisted unicycle with pedals. There's lots of
reasons why this could be practical. Asides from increasing the speed
and hill climbing capabilities, it enables the use of a freewheel for
coasting, can serve as a "trainer" unicycle for newbies, and also
greatly facilities multi-speed drives so you can go fast without
needing a monster 36" wheel.

Unfortunately I don't have any footage of riding it while pedalling.
It's quite counter-intuitive. If you try to speed up by pedalling
faster, the front moves ahead and that makes the tilt sensor thing your
falling backwards, so it puts the motor in regen mode and you feel like
you're pedalling through molasses. It takes a slow and steady leaning
forwards to get it up to speed.

-Justin

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very cool unicycle. how much did this cost to make?

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flyer
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flyer said:

very cool unicycle. how much did this cost to make?

I run a small business distributing electric bicycle parts, so most of
the components I already had on hand. The custom giraffe frame was
built by a local frame builder here in Vancouver who only charged for
materials ($60), http://www.peytocycles.com/, the circuitboard is
recycled from the balancing skateboard project but has about $150 of
components in it, the hub motor is worth about $200 and the battery
pack is $275. So total of about $700, plus 2 weeks work however you
want to value that.

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