Jyrobike

Last updated

A Jyrobike [1] (formerly known as Gyrobike [2] ) is a bicycle with a special front wheel designed to make balancing easier. It was manufactured and sold by a company of the same name.

Contents

The special front wheel contains a rotating flywheel driven by a rechargeable-battery-powered motor that spins at high RPMs like a gyroscope. This flywheel spins significantly faster than the front wheel rolls and acts as a gyroscope, even when the bike is moving slowly, such as when the rider is starting. The flywheel causes the front wheel to respond to a lean by precessing, that is the front wheel turns toward the direction of the lean, which can help provide stability at low speeds, whether riding straight or turning. [3] [4]

Jyrobike technology was intended to help children and adults learning to ride a bicycle, and people lacking confidence in their balance and mobility skills.

History

The inventors of the technology which the original Gyrowheel was based on were Debbie Sperling, Hannah Murnen, Nathan Sigworth, and Augusta Niles, who conceived and tested the concept between 2004 and 2007 as part of a graduate project at the Thayer School of Engineering. Their invention won the 2006 Break Through Award from Popular Mechanics. [5]

In 2010 Daniella Reichstetter, a fellow Dartmouth student, licensed the technology from the inventors and set up a company based in San Francisco, USA called The Gyrobike Inc. [6] The company launched a working model based on the initial invention, called Gyrowheel, which was a stand-alone front wheel toy accessory that replaced the conventional bicycle front wheel. The company communicated ‘once attached, Gyrowheel transforms a normal bicycle into a Gyrobike’. This message led to confusion [7] because the inventors never engineered a complete Gyrobike bicycle nor did the company sell bicycles or Gyrobikes, but only the front wheel. Gyrowheel was manufactured in 12" and 16" wheel sizes, and was marketed as a toy accessory for children.

Gyrowheel was rated a “Top Toy” of Toy Fair 2010 in New York by industry. [8]

In October 2013 UK-based entrepreneur Robert Bodill acquired the intellectual property rights, then raised capital funding and set up Jyrobike Limited in December 2013. The Gyrobike trademark is owned by Jyrobike Limited, which holds global patents for a “system for providing gyroscopic stabilization to a two- wheeled vehicle”, [9] protecting the invention.

In 2014, Jyrobike launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $185,818 from 872 supporters. [10] On November 25, 2014, Team Jyrobike announced a 9-month delay in delivering bikes. [11] That was their last update. As of July, 2019, the jyrobike.com url is no longer active. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle</span> Pedal-driven two-wheel vehicle

A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Segway</span> Two-wheeled, self-balancing personal vehicle

A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter device invented by Dean Kamen. It is a registered trademark of Segway Inc. It was brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, and then subsequently as the Segway PT.HT is an initialism for "human transporter" and PT for "personal transporter."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyroscope</span> Device for measuring or maintaining the orientation and angular velocity

A gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation is free to assume any orientation by itself. When rotating, the orientation of this axis is unaffected by tilting or rotation of the mounting, according to the conservation of angular momentum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric unicycle</span> Self-balancing single wheel personal transporter

An electric unicycle is a self-balancing personal transporter with a single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the unit side to side. The self-balancing mechanism uses accelerometers and gyroscopes. Most manufacturers of EUCs are based out of China, including Segway, Inmotion, Kingsong, Begode, and Leaperkim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmer Ambrose Sperry</span> American industrialist

Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. He was known as the "father of modern navigation technology".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyrocar</span> Self-balancing two-wheeled automobile

A gyrocar is a two-wheeled automobile. The difference between a bicycle or motorcycle and a gyrocar is that in a bike, dynamic balance is provided by the rider, and in some cases by the geometry and mass distribution of the bike itself, and the gyroscopic effects from the wheels. Steering a motorcycle is done by precessing the front wheel. In a gyrocar, balance was provided by one or more gyroscopes, and in one example, connected to two pendulums by a rack and pinion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the bicycle</span>

Vehicles that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817. The term bicycle was coined in France in the 1860s, and the descriptive title "penny farthing", used to describe an "ordinary bicycle", is a 19th-century term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Countersteering</span> Single-track vehicle steering technique

Countersteering is used by single-track vehicle operators, such as cyclists and motorcyclists, to initiate a turn toward a given direction by momentarily steering counter to the desired direction. To negotiate a turn successfully, the combined center of mass of the rider and the single-track vehicle must first be leaned in the direction of the turn, and steering briefly in the opposite direction causes that lean. The rider's action of countersteering is sometimes referred to as "giving a steering command".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monowheel</span> One-wheeled vehicle

A monowheel or uniwheel is a type of one-wheeled, single-track vehicle. Unlike the unicycle, a monowheel consists of a large, hollow wheel that loops above and around the driver. Monowheels are typically powered by an engine as with a motorcycle, with a chassis securing the steering, driver's seat, and propulsion mechanism to the interior of the wheel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stabilizer (ship)</span> Ship component meant to reduce a ships roll

Ship stabilizers are fins or rotors mounted beneath the waterline and emerging laterally from the hull to reduce a ship's roll due to wind or waves. Active fins are controlled by a gyroscopic control system. When the gyroscope senses the ship roll, it changes the fins' angle of attack so that the forward motion of the ship exerts force to counteract the roll. Fixed fins and bilge keels do not move; they reduce roll by hydrodynamic drag exerted when the ship rolls. Stabilizers are mostly used on ocean-going ships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyro monorail</span> Single rail land vehicle

The gyro monorail, gyroscopic monorail, gyro-stabilized monorail, or gyrocar are terms for a single rail land vehicle that uses the gyroscopic action of a spinning wheel to overcome the inherent instability of balancing on top of a single rail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics</span> Science behind the motion of bicycles and motorcycles

Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles and their components, due to the forces acting on them. Dynamics falls under a branch of physics known as classical mechanics. Bike motions of interest include balancing, steering, braking, accelerating, suspension activation, and vibration. The study of these motions began in the late 19th century and continues today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-rolling gyro</span>

Ship stabilizing gyroscopes are a technology developed in the 19th century and early 20th century and used to stabilize roll motions in ocean-going ships. It lost favor in this application to hydrodynamic roll stabilizer fins because of reduced cost and weight. However, since the 1990s, there is renewed interest in the device for low-speed roll stabilization of vessels. Unlike traditional fins, the gyroscope does not rely on the forward speed of the ship to generate a roll stabilizing moment and therefore can stabilize motor yachts while at anchor. However, the latest generation of "zero speed" fins stabilizers can stabilize yachts while at anchor thanks to their eccentricity with respect of the shaft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spin-stabilized magnetic levitation</span>

Spin-stabilized magnetic levitation is a phenomenon of magnetic levitation whereby a spinning magnet or array of magnets is levitated via magnetic forces above another magnet or array of magnets, and stabilised by gyroscopic effect due to a spin rate that is neither too fast, nor too slow to allow for a necessary precession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uno (dicycle)</span> Self-balancing electric motorcycle

The Uno is a novel self-balancing electric motorcycle using two wheels side by side. The Uno III adds a third wheel that allows it to transform into a tricycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flywheel energy storage</span> Method of storing energy

Flywheel energy storage (FES) works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy. When energy is extracted from the system, the flywheel's rotational speed is reduced as a consequence of the principle of conservation of energy; adding energy to the system correspondingly results in an increase in the speed of the flywheel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kickstarter</span> US-based crowdfunding platform

Kickstarter, PBC is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of February 2023, Kickstarter has received US$7 billion in pledges from 21.7 million backers to fund 233,626 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, board games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects.

Lit Motors Inc. is a San Francisco-based company that designed conceptual two-wheeled vehicles, including a fully electric, gyroscopically stabilized vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Wood (entrepreneur)</span> American inventor and entrepreneur

Daniel Wood is an American inventor and entrepreneur, best known for creating the first commercially available self-balancing unicycle. He is currently the founder and CEO of Focus Designs. He is also the Director of Control Systems at Future Motion as well as an advisory council member at RYNO Motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Chen</span> Chinese-American inventor

Shane Chen is a Chinese-American inventor and entrepreneur based in Camas, WA USA. He is best known for inventing the self-balancing hoverboard.

References

  1. ↑ "Reason for the name change". Jyrobike. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  2. ↑ Paul Ridden (August 22, 2012). "Gyrobike training system heads to Europe". GizMag. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  3. ↑ "The Bicycle Wheel as a Gyroscope". R Nave, Georgia State University. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  4. ↑ "An Introduction to Bike Geometry and Handling". Megulon Five at dclxvi.org. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  5. ↑ "SLIDESHOW: Photos from the 2006 Breakthrough Awards". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  6. ↑ "Reinventing the wheel". Tuck School of Business. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  7. ↑ "GYRO BIKE & GYRO WHEEL – THE BEST TRAINING WHEEL". Move Mee. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  8. ↑ "Gallery: Best of Toy Fair 2010". Pop Science. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  9. ↑ "System for providing gyroscopic stabilization to a two-wheeled vehicle". Google. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  10. ↑ Samantha Hurst (February 13, 2015). "Jyrobike Leaves Supporters in Limbo; Project Goes Dark with $185,0000 from Crowdfunding". Crowdfund Insider. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  11. ↑ Team Jyrobike (November 25, 2014). "Jyrobike - Auto Balance Bicycle". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  12. ↑ "This domain jyrobike.com may be for sale. Click here for more details" . Retrieved 2019-07-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.