The R.I.O.T. Wheel

[Klaas Bil]

It's a unicycle, or...?

Powered with a 200 hp electric motor, this contraption is planned to break the world speed record for single-wheeled vehicles, that allegedly stands at 90 km/h. (Hey, who holds that old record and with what?). But the current version has only a 6 hp motor and doesn't exceed 50 km/h.

More info on www.theriotwheel.com. I stole the picture from there (and resized it).

Klaas Bil

[hecklar]

That looks like a death trap. If that seat ever touches the ground while seriously riding, that guy will get crushed underneith the wheel. As soon as the base of the wheel hits something, like a rock or pot hole, the bottom of the wheel will slow, relative to the top of the wheel, in terms of forward velocity, and the wheel will suddenly force the seat into the ground.... i think. I couldn't imagine the computer and mechanics for the balancing mechanism being fast enough to move the extra weight backward to rebalance the thing. Good luck to the guy though.

[TheObieOne3226]

Originally posted by hecklar
That looks like a death trap. If that seat ever touches the ground while seriously riding, that guy will get crushed underneith the wheel. As soon as the base of the wheel hits something, like a rock or pot hole, the bottom of the wheel will slow, relative to the top of the wheel, in terms of forward velocity, and the wheel will suddenly force the seat into the ground.... i think. I couldn't imagine the computer and mechanics for the balancing mechanism being fast enough to move the extra weight backward to rebalance the thing. Good luck to the guy though.

The tire will absorb anything it hits. So long as it isn't too big. A rock like 3 inches high will just get rolled over. The tire is being used with no air.

The amount of angular momentum obtained by the combination of the 65 pound steel flywheel at over 2000 rpm and the rotation of the 300+ lb wheel will keep the thing somewhat steady at speed.

The bottom of the chassis is designed to be able to slide along the ground should it come into contact. It is also designed so that the rider can't be crushed. So they say anyways.

Read.

[spickydoo]

This has been mentioned in JC before as well as some other threads. Here's the link to the actual site. http://theriotwheel.com/

[john_childs]

Originally posted by Klaas Bil
Powered with a 200 hp electric motor, this contraption is planned to break the world speed record for single-wheeled vehicles, that allegedly stands at 90 km/h. (Hey, who holds that old record and with what?).

The current single wheel speed record is held by Kerry McLean with a motorized monowheel.

McLean monowheel link 1
McLean monowheel link 2

The site mentions that he has plans to go for a 100 mph record. That would give the RIOT Wheel something to shoot for. I wonder which one of them will get there first.

john_childs posted:
> 'McLean monowheel link 1' (http://tinyurl.com/rx11)

I noticed from that page that a lecturer at Bath University (Geraint
Owen) built a monocycle the year after I graduated. If only he'd done
it a couple of years earlier I might have been able to blag a go :-(

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

[yoopers]

That almost looks like it should be in the pod races in the Star Wars movie.

B

[hecklar]

"The bottom of the chassis is designed to be able to slide along the ground should it come into contact. It is also designed so that the rider can't be crushed. So they say anyways."

Sure it would slide going 5 or 10 km/h, like in the demo movie, but 90+ km/h?

[PhilS]

I believe that the only time the chasi would have a chance of touching the ground would be during braking hard, so hopefully this wouldnt be much of a problem.

this machine does not have to do any sort of balancing. There is a huge counterweight inside the wheel below the axel and another one behind the axel, and the tire is so wide that lateral balance is no concern.

[brockfisher05]

I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!!!!!!!!!

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by PhilS
this machine does not have to do any sort of balancing.

True, but it does have to make an effort to stay right side up and not dig into the ground. Applying power to the wheel causes the nose to tilt up. The more power, or the quicker it's applied, the more tilt. Same for braking, which will point the nose downward. The faster you go, the more chance there is for something to cause a tilt.

The worst thing would be to hit some sort of bump during braking, if the frame is on the ground. I'm sure for a higher-speed model the builders will think to give it very good skids that can get over most anything that will be in its path. For speed records I'm sure they will seek a very flat runway.

the tire is so wide that lateral balance is no concern.

If there is indeed no steering mechanism, this makes the machine even more dangerous as speeds increase. Anything that may cause it to go a little crooked will send it toward a curb, or other un-planned obstacles. Are you sure there's no provision for steering it?

[Checkernuts]

Originally posted by johnfoss

If there is indeed no steering mechanism, this makes the machine even more dangerous as speeds increase. Anything that may cause it to go a little crooked will send it toward a curb, or other un-planned obstacles. Are you sure there's no provision for steering it?

from http://www.theriotwheel.com/Tech_Steering.html

The driver controls the direction of travel using
the joystick, and, depending on the speed, by
shifting left or right on the rolling seat. The
joystick controls solenoids that roll the gyro,
producing precession forces that yaw the wheel.
As with a bicycle or motorbike, at slow speeds
you yaw in the direction you wish to go, but at
higher speeds you yaw in the opposite direction.
This rolls the vehicle into the desired turn
direction.

[PhilS]

Originally posted by johnfoss
True, but it does have to make an effort to stay right side up and not dig into the ground. Applying power to the wheel causes the nose to tilt up. The more power, or the quicker it's applied, the more tilt. Same for braking, which will point the nose downward. The faster you go, the more chance there is for something to cause a tilt.

I believe that there is a counter-weight on other side of the rider for the rider to stay up-right, and there is another one that hangs from the axel and swings forward and backward to go and stop.

so the rider shouldnt go up and down too much.

"hecklar" <hecklar@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote in
message news:hecklar.1irlbv@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com...
>
> That looks like a death trap. If that seat ever touches the ground
> while seriously riding, that guy will get crushed underneith the wheel.
> As soon as the base of the wheel hits something, like a rock or pot
> hole, the bottom of the wheel will slow, relative to the top of the
> wheel, in terms of forward velocity, and the wheel will suddenly force
> the seat into the ground.... i think. I couldn't imagine the computer
> and mechanics for the balancing mechanism being fast enough to move the
> extra weight backward to rebalance the thing.


You totally underestimate the efficiency of computer controller servo
systems.
They usually make our feeble efforts look terribly wobbly.

Nao