Former editor, photographer and great bike guy Ken Ohrn sends this missive in. In the “if you can build it, it must be a good idea department”, someone has built a “Frankenbike”. It propels itself. It balances itself. And no, it does not need a rider.
Hardware engineer Zhi Hui Jun has created a bike that balances itself using gyroscope sensors, meaning the bike’s front wheel can adjust and prevent the bike from falling when “pedalling”. A graduate of China’s University of Electronic Science and Technology, Mr. Zhi has a great YouTube channel where he shows his inventions on video.
You can take a look at the video that shows the eerie adjustments the bike makes, mimicking a human trying to balance. Some of the items for the bike were created by a 3D printer and machine tooling process, and the bike has a depth camera and sensors to detect the environment around it.
No word when a piloted ride will be undertaken.
As written by Chris Young in Interesting Engineering, “In principle, Zhi Jui Jun’s self-balancing bike should work with someone riding it as well, though no one is shown riding it in Jui Jun’s video — the bicycle steering and keeping balance with the added top-heavy weight of a person would be a sight to behold.”
The video below shows the autonomous bike piloting a street, turning corners, and around 9:30 piloting into an office or apartment building hall.
