Motorised unicycle

Ive never riden one but it sounds like a good idea

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dude that will go so fast you might want handlebars or something

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It will have handlebars, and am currently contemplating three designs.
The first is a recumbent design, but that might not be the best for
stability and agility. The second is a more conventional design, and is
basically a triangle shape, with the seat just slightly behind the wheel
axle (horizontally speaking) to act as a counterweight for the engine,
but this might not be the best for stability, agility shouldn't be a
major problem here. The best design, I think, is something kind of like
a motorised BC, and should approach something like riding seat out
front. I'm going to use a standard 20" wheel, something I think I'll be
the first to use, all the other ones I've seen use very small, wide
tires. But I want a unicycle, not a Segway. I've planned on a month to
build it, and two months on learning how to ride it, as it'll
undoubtably be a major [censored] to learn this... You need to translate the
corrections you make with your feet to keep you upright into corrections
you make with your hands (throttle and brake) to keep you upright...

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Have you seen this page?
http://www.jackiechabanais.com/the_monocycle.htm
In particular (re-translated)
"He practiced on average three hours a day everyday for 3 months before
he could ride 200 metres one time in five"
Looks like you;ve got your work cut out.

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I've been planning on making a motor uni as well, but I don't have money
for the scooter I'm using for parts.

I was originaly going to use a chainsay, and was thinking of putting it
under the seat. I really don't know how possible this is though. anyway,
I thought the easiest control method would be to have a foot thing so
when your foot leans forward it accererates the uni.

well I gotta go.

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PhilS - )-O

U U UN U UN UNI U UN UNI UNIC U UN UNI UNICY U UN UNI UNIC UNICY UNICYC
U UN UNI UNIC UNICY UNICYC UNICYCL U UN UNI UNIC UNICY UNICYL UNICYLE
UNICYCLE UNICYL UNICYC UNICY UNIC UNI UN U UNICYCL UNICYC UNICY UNIC UNI
UN U UNICYC UNICY UNIC UNE UN U UNICY UNIC UNI UN U UNIC UNI UN U UNI UN
U UN U U
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kington99 said:

*Have you seen this page?
http://www.jackiechabanais.com/the_monocycle.htm
*

Wow that page (and the rest of his site) is amazing! There are videos
for download too. Jackie can do so much cool stuff - crazy bikes, STC,
monocycling. He can ride a penny farthing backwards and has performed
for the crowds at the Tour de France. Very cool.

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I don't recommend a foot control. Remember, when you press the gas, it
will make the cycle tilt. In other words, it will make your foot press
the gas more. Put the control somewhere else. Not to be boring, but the
hand controls that have been used on several other motorized unis seem
to work.

First thing you'll have to do is figure out how you're going to supply
power to the wheel in more than one direction. Or were you planning to
accelerate indefinitely? 🙂 You could try using a brake to counteract
the power of the motor, but that would be pretty crude, like riding a
motorcycle on the back wheel (but without the counterbalancing effect of
the front of the motorcycle).

From the Jackie C. web site, you can see that he's not a beginner when
it comes to balancing on motorized vehicles. He's pretty dang amazing
and his site is worth spending some time on. If it took him 3 months to
start getting success on his uni, this is probably for three reasons:

1. The big wheel makes it heavy, which probably doesn't help.
2. He might be operating with no resistance; in other words it only
accelerates so he had to learn to keep from speeding up too much.
3. The web site is intended to market him, so the 3-month story is
probably exaggerated.

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johnfoss said:

I don't recommend a foot control. Remember, when you press the gas, it
will make the cycle tilt. In other words, it will make your foot press
the gas more.

I thought that the foot control was a clever idea making the control
mechanism somewhat akin to a regular unicycle. I.e., you press
something on the front if you tend to fall forward. But I guess you're
right about the positive feedback (tilting makes you press the gas
more) although you have to keep in mind that the person will largely
"rotate" backwards WITH the unicycle.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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Erant said:

The best design, I think, is something kind of like
a motorised BC, and should approach something like riding seat out
front.

I can't quite visualise that. If it's a BC, where do the reaction
forces of the engine go? And how can riding a BC be like riding SOF? A
BC definitely doesn't have a seat at all.

(The previous sentence started with A B C D E F.)

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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The motor will make it handle like a BC, the footrests will be just
slightly below the wheel. And it's going to be like riding seat out
front, where the seat is just slightly higher, and has made a magic
transformation into a handlebar 😉

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Hmm, how weird, I can't edit my message anymore... Ah well. I just took
a look at that guy's website, and I noticed several things. One, he
controls it using some remote thingy, with only one hand. Two, the tire
is extremely short, stubby, and fat. Three, he has no handlebars. Four,
he doesn't seem like an altogether too good unicyclist. Five, he's a lot
older then I am. These five points make it really hard for someone to
control such a monster. Especially the fact that I don't think he can
ride a unicycle makes a big difference.

Also, as far as the control question goes, I'm going to make it without
a clutch. I have one here I could mount in case this doesn't work, but
it basically comes down to releasing the throttle will make the unicycle
'brake'. This is very close to what you're actually doing when you're
pedaling.

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If you're not having a clutch then how on earth will you start the
thing? Either you start it then try and jump on as it's moving, or try
and pull it over (i presume it's pull start) while your sitting on it
and the drive is engaged. Incidently, he may be older than you but he's
also a professional 'acrobat' not (quite the right word) with decades of
experience at balancing on moving motorised objects, although i agree
about the exaggeration point.

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kington99 said:

*If you're not having a clutch then how on earth will you start the
thing? Either you start it then try and jump on as it's moving, or try
and pull it over (i presume it's pull start) while your sitting on it
and the drive is engaged. Incidently, he may be older than you but
he's also a professional 'acrobat' not (quite the right word) with
decades of experience at balancing on moving motorised objects,
although i agree about the exaggeration point. *

Yeah, his engine controls might be better, but I've been unicycling for
over 6 months now (Ok, that doesn't seem like a lot, but my brain has
adapted by now), doing some trials and stuff, a brain learns to cope
with that. Also, I was a speedskater for roughly 10 years, and I've done
snowboarding. These might all seem fairly non-related, but every one of
those things needs balance. As to the starting bit, first I'm going to
try and get on while the engine's idling. The engine's idle is at about
1000RPM, and with the gear ratio and wheel size I have, that comes down
to roughly 3km/h. If that doesn't work, I'm going to get on (engine
off), and get someone to push me (Thus turning the wheel, and the
engine, making it fire). If THAT doesn't work, I'm going to make a
manual clutch, using a drive belt. This might all seem to be
horrendously difficult, but I think the upsides outweigh the downsides.
Because this way, there'll be no 'freewheel', just like on a unicycle.
(You're either pedaling, or you're standing still).

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Erant said:

*Hmm, how weird, I can't edit my message anymore... *

You have a 10-minute edit window.

Klaas Bil

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johnfoss said:

I don't recommend a foot control. Remember, when you press the gas, it
will make the cycle tilt. In other words, it will make your foot press
the gas more. Put the control somewhere else. Not to be boring, but the
hand controls that have been used on several other motorized unis seem
to work.

Actually, foot control could work reasonably well. Imagine a pedal
controlling the throttle, but connected backwards. If you lower your
heel to accelerate, then when the wheel surges forward your foot will
tend to straighten out. Negative feedback is a good thing.

I wonder about throttle lag, which could make control especially
difficult.

Quoted message said:

2. He might be operating with no resistance; in other words it only
accelerates so he had to learn to keep from speeding up too much.

According to the site, Jackie C. has a brake controlled by his right
foot. That makes sense to me. Brakes don't suffer from throttle lag,
and normal (press forward to brake) action provides negative control
feedback.

Ken

Erant said:

*Four, he doesn't seem like an altogether too good unicyclist.*

Keep looking around his site. Check out the videos. He is ultra-skilled
at balancing motorized vehicles on one wheel! Maybe the best I've seen
anywhere. This does not necessarily make him a unicyclist, but I'm sure
he's better equipped to ride his fat, heavy uni than most of us.

Quoted message said:

*it basically comes down to releasing the throttle will make the
unicycle 'brake'. This is very close to what you're actually doing
when you're pedaling. *

No it isn't. You can believe us or find out for yourself. Releasing the
throttle in a clutchless design will be like *freewheeling,* not
braking. Especially if you have a 1000rpm idle. Every ride will end in
uncontrollable speed, unless you can balance things out with a brake.

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Ken Cline said:

*Imagine a pedal controlling the throttle, but connected backwards.
If you lower your heel to accelerate, then when the wheel surges
forward your foot will tend to straighten out. Negative feedback is a
good thing.*

That would be better than a regular gas pedal, but I still wouldn't
recommend it on such an unstable vehicle. Learning to control it will be
hard enough without the cycle's feedback working the controls
independent of your muscles!

Yes Klas, Ken is correct about the wheel surging forward when you apply
throttle. Try it on a motorcycle!

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johnfoss said:

Yes Klas, Ken is correct about the wheel surging forward when you apply
throttle. Try it on a motorcycle!

Both you and Ken (who posted after me) were right. My wording may not
have been very clear but I didn't say otherwise.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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johnfoss said:

*Releasing the throttle in a clutchless design will be like
*freewheeling,* not braking. *

You read me wrong. By braking I ment that some of the wheel's energy
will go not into propelling me forward, but into moving the pistons in
the engine. That's an engine's natural braking. I will ofcourse install
a normal brake, but that's less easy to control. I never said that
releasing the throttle would be an insta stop, but that it'd come closer
to what you're doing when balancing on a unicycle. You're either putting
extra energy in the wheel (pushing the pedals the same way as the wheel
is going) , or taking it out (providing slight pressure the other way).

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