MNN - Mother Nature Network

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND—It looked just like a Segway, and rode just like one, too, but let's just say it was built on a budget. The young scholars who put what they call the "NoWay" together are mechanical engineering students at Iceland’s University of Reykjavik, Stefan Bjarnason and Valdimar Onarsson. I almost fell off by driving the thing into a table, but that part wasn’t caught on videotape. Instead, I pointed the camera at the vehicle’s university keeper:

 

 

The students’ objective was to make a homemade balance cycle “for much less than other available cycles on the market.” They also promised to “make a public homepage with all the relevant information and drawings.” So you might soon be able to build your own gyroscopically balanced two-wheeled vehicle, similar to the one that once threatened to conquer the world.

 

Segway might have something to say about that, but maybe the company is broad-minded. For the record, the components include two OSMC motor controllers with PIC18F4250 microcomputer, electronic level and gyro sensors. The unique personal transportation device can travel 7.4 miles on a charge, reach more than nine miles an hour, and takes five hours to recharge.

 

The students say they spent 284,340 kronur on the thing, which used to be worth a whole lot of American dollars but right now translates to $2,275. This is by no means the only Segway knock-off out there. Visit links here and here or just Google the phrase "homemade Segway."