Segway
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| The iBot, developed by DEKA, was Dean Kamen's precursor to the Segway. |
Segway
The Segway, released in December, 2001, is a short-range, gyroscopically-balanced, two-wheeled transportation device invented by Dean Kamen. Kamen is an inventor and entrepreneur whose other projects include the iBot Independence mobility system, a wheel chair robot that can climb up stairs, and FIRST Robotics, a nation-wide, high-school robotics competition. The Segway, kept secret throughout its design process, was touted to be a technology that will revolutionize transportation as we knew it. News of the Segway's invention was leaked to the public and the information was neither confirmed nor denied by Kamen, which led to much speculation and hype. When the Segway was finally revealed it did not live up to expectations.
Concept
The major failure of the Segway was that it was a “Solution looking for a problem.” When Dean was asked about the consumer value of the Segway less than a year before its launch date, Dean replied that nobody had known the consumer value of the PC when it first came out. Would it be used for adding numbers? Interoffice communication? Writing business letters? Tracking inventory and sales? Many of its current uses were not known at the time, so why should the Segway be any different? The essential problem with this concept, however, was that the Segway filled too small of a niche to have such a global effect as the personal computer.
Kamen's grand vision for the Segway was to alleviate traffic congestion and pollution in cities. However, if Segways became widely used in urban settings, they themselves would cause congestion. In large cities people may decide to use a Segway instead of driving their car if they are only going a short distance and people may decide to use a Segway if they usually walk. Since the number of people traveling on the sidewalks would escalate and Segways require more space than a normal person, sidewalk congestion would increase dramatically. Since there is more congestion, the advantages of the Segway would be nullified because the traffic would limit the speed of the Segway to the speed of the foot traffic. Transportation in a city is a well established technological system, the results of which cannot be changed by a single invention.
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| The Segway Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP) is a DARPA project to standardize university robotics research. |
Engineering
In pure engineering terms the Segway is a remarkable success. The engineers of Segway took a physically unstable system and utilized it to their advantage. The entire machine is contained in a small standing platform, two wheels, and a handlebar, only slightly increasing a pedestrian's footprint. The Segway has a very short learning curve and intuitive controls to the extent that it mimics a body's natural balance.
This is not to say that the Segway's engineering is without its flaws. Its software initially permitted users to operate the Segway until the batteries could no longer balance them. This resulted in a few crashes, at least one with injuries, which prompted Segway to start a voluntary recall to upgrade the Segway's firmware.
Managerial
One of the biggest killers of the Segway was its overblown media hype before its release date. Kamen hired journalist Steve Kemper to write a book describing the process that brought the Segway from iBot to “Ginger” to the full-blown Segway that we know today. Because the book was being edited before the Segway was fully completed, anyone who read over the text had to sign a nondisclosure agreement. When the copy of the book reached the publishers, they also had to sign the agreement, but they violated it and released information that Kamen was developing a transportation technology. The media inspired widespread speculation, and the Segway became a technology that would revolutionize transportation as we knew it. Because it was getting such lofty acclaim, people speculated that the Segway was something as outlandish as a personal jet pack or a hoverboard.
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| The Segway is currently being utilized by various post offices around the nation to increase the efficiency the mail delivery system. |
This hype caused the Segway to lose popularity with the public when it was revealed. Since people thought it was this amazing new technology, their expectations were inflated. When the Segway did not live up to those expectations they failed to see it as it was intended. Many were disappointed in the Segway, and with its high price tag, the Segway found it hard to capture the heart of the public.
In terms of pure business practices Segway was able to procure lots of support for an untested product. Delphi Automotive created an entirely new line of small, high-accuracy gyroscopes entirely for the Segway. The Segway's motors, made specifically for the Segway, have the highest power to weight ratio available to any brushless motor. The Segway manufacturing plant is capable of producing 10,000 units per month. It was geared for a very productive launch and while this never materialized, the production was adequately streamlined.
Conclusion
Despite its lack of a niche and high price tag, the Segway is still surviving in today's market. It has not revolutionized city transportation, but the Segway has found places to be of use. Large industrial plants and the United States Postal Service use the Segway to decrease the time spent transporting people from place to place over relatively short distances. The self balancing technology of the Segway is being used in numerous applications, such as a universal robotics platform for academic research.
Sources
Kemper, Steve. Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/02/segway.military.ap/
http://www.tamakoo.com/items/segway/
http://www.rtptv.homestead.com/softwarecentral.html
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