Segway-Ninebot is partnering with Drover AI and Luna Systems — two startups that build computer vision technology to detect and correct improper electric scooter riding — to integrate their technologies into its AI-enabled e-scooters. The partnerships, announced at the Micromobility Europe event in Amsterdam, are something of a pivot for Segway. This time last year, the scooter manufacturer launched an AI-powered scooter, the S90L, as the vertically integrated solution to scooter advanced rider assistance systems (ARAS). Rather than retrofitting third-party hardware and software systems onto s ..read more

After a year away, TC Sessions: Robotics returns July 22. We’ve spent the last several in-person shows at UC Berkeley, and we’re excited to be returning to Boston, where everything started. We’ve been planning the show for a few months now and have terrific guests lined up. Seriously, I’ve been involved with the event since the beginning, and this is easily our best yet. We’ll reveal more about the show in the coming weeks and months, but right now, I’m extremely excited to announce our first guest. You may well know Dean Kamen as an inventor, first and foremost. He holds 1,000 patents and has ..read more

Even though we didn’t make it to CES 2022 in person this year, we certainly heard about the “eMobility Experience,” a test track for demo rides of all the e-scooters, e-bikes and whatever other micromobility vehicles came to play in Las Vegas.  A lot of products were shown, many of which weren’t actually new, like Bird’s new consumer suite of vehicles (the Bird Bike, Bird Flex and Birdie), Zoomo’s utility electric-assist bikes, Euphree’s City Robin step-through e-bike and Arevo and Superstrata’s 3D-printed carbon fiber e-bikes. There were a handful of interesting companies showing off new ..read more

2021 was the year micromobility as a concept, a solution and a way of life really started to settle in. Increased shared micromobility and COVID-ridden public transit helped make small electric vehicles mainstream enough for people to wrap their heads around purchasing their own. Consequently, 2021 was the year of the e-bike, with a growth rate in sales of 240% over the 12 months leading up to July. This new normal resulted in cities adopting infrastructure plans that would have truly been unbelievable a decade ago (looking at you Paris!). 2021 was also the year that people, particularly peopl ..read more

Segway sees a future for sidewalk delivery robots and is now preparing to be the burgeoning industry’s go-to manufacturer. The company, which has supplied electric scooters for almost all of the major shared micromobility operators, is partnering with Los Angeles-based delivery robot startup Coco to build 1,000 partially automated, remotely piloted sidewalk robots. Coco will begin deploying the robots in Los Angeles and two other U.S. cities during the first quarter of 2022. This new shipment of Coco 1’s, as the company is branding them, will add to its existing fleet of 100 Coco 0’s ..read more

Last week, Kathryn Zealand shared some insight on the eve of Women’s Equality Day. The post highlighted an issue that’s been apparent to everyone in and around the robotics industry: there’s a massive gender gap. It’s something we try to be mindful of, particularly when programming events like TC Sessions: Robotics. Zealand cites some pretty staggering figures in the piece. According to the stats, around 9% of robotics engineers are female. That’s bad. That’s, like, bad even by the standards of STEM fields in general — which is to say, it’s really, really bad. (The ethnic disparities in the sa ..read more

http://creativity-online.com/video/player.swf Take one minute out of your life to watch these two grizzled warriors in a truly epic clash of the Segways. Yeah, I’d probably do that too if I won the lottery. The rainy bits were shot on a Phantom, by the way. I know how you guys love those. [thanks for the tip, Mike ..read more

Spin, the micromobility startup acquired by Ford, has developed a new scooter with partners Segway-Ninebot and software startup Tortoise that aims to solve the sidewalk clutter problem for good. The Spin S-200 scooter not only has three wheels — a design change that helps it stand out in a crowded pool of two-wheelers — it’s also equipped with repositioning software that allows remote operators thousands of miles away to move vehicles off the sidewalk and into a proper parking spot. A fleet of about 300 Spin S-200 scooters will be tested in Boise, Idaho this spring. But the goal is much grande ..read more

Segway’s story can’t be told without rehashing its entry onto the scene as one of the most hyped tech products of the early 21st century. Alternately codenamed “Ginger” and “IT,” the personal mobility device engendered serious conversations among futurists about the ways in which it would transform sidewalks and cities. Nearly 20 years after its initial release, however, the two-wheeled Segway PT is done. Parent company Ninebot is ceasing production of Dean Kamen’s best-known invention, as it lays off 21 employees at its New Hampshire plant who worked on the project. As is so often the ca ..read more

Segway has unveiled a self-balancing vehicle that can go up to 24 mph. Called the S-Pod, it’s designed for sitting while navigating enclosed campuses. Details on how to actually use the vehicle are scarce, but Segway says the “S-Pod uses an adaptive center-of-gravity automatic control system to enable the passenger to easily adjust the speed by handling the knob to change the center of gravity in the pod.” Segway-Ninebot also unveiled a kick scooter with a maximum speed of 12.4 mph with a $699 price tag.* I haven’t tried this scooter, but its light weight of 22 pounds is a plus, as is its all ..read more