Robot Roller Skates: The Next Segway?
December 1st, 2009
Researchers in Japan are developing robotic roller skates as a new form of personal transport. Toshinobu Takei of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology demonstrated the “Unit-type Micro-Mobility” device at the 2009 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo.
The prototype skates are based on “takeuma,”(bamboo stilts that kids used to play with in Japan). The aluminum skates move automatically when the user leans forward, but you have to also hold the poles. They allow users to either roll or step forward. Could this kind of thing catch on?
