P.U.M.A. - Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility

GM is betting PUMA's more car-like traits -- an enclosed compartment and top speed of 35 miles per hour -- will lead to better results. GM didn't say how much the machines would cost, but research chief Larry Burns said owners would spend one-third to one-fourth of the cost of a traditional vehicle.
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Hrm... is that 1/3rd to 1/4th the cost of an automobile, or 1/3rd to 1/4th the cost of a scooter, which appears to be far more practical than this thing.
 
ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
This is actually something I never quite understood about the Segway: What is its big advantage over a scooter?

The other thing I never understood is the whole gyroscope thing. It has an incredibly complex (and expensive) system of gyroscopes to keep the thing upright. While it's a neat piece of engineering, what's the big advantage over, say.... just adding two more, smaller wheels?
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More compact footprint and a much, much smaller turning radius. Makes it much easier to control in areas with pedestrian traffic, which is what it's for.
 
ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
This is actually something I never quite understood about the Segway: What is its big advantage over a scooter?
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Same here. Which is probably the reason these things never become especially popular. It doesn't matter how great your idea is as a gadget, if it doesn't actually have any advantage over simpler ideas it's just not going to be worth it.

If people actually want something small, maneuverable and fairly cheap they can just get a motorbike, or a moped or scooter or whatever you call the less powerful versions these days. On the other hand, most people have cars instead of motorbikes because of the various advantages, such as being able to hold more than one or two people, carry heavy loads, rather more safety, and so on. This wheelchair thingy can't do any of that, so it's not going to attract anyone away from cars, and it can't do anything a motorbike can't, so it won't attract people away from them.

Oh yes, and it can only travel 35 miles. So who exactly is its market supposed to be? The only things I can see it competing with are Segways and C-5s. Yeah, that's really going to help GM.

The other thing I never understood is the whole gyroscope thing. It has an incredibly complex (and expensive) system of gyroscopes to keep the thing upright. While it's a neat piece of engineering, what's the big advantage over, say.... just adding two more, smaller wheels?
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Well, if you look at the picture you can see that it actually has four extra wheels. So not only do the gyroscopes not achieve anything a couple of wheels couldn't, you still need the wheels as well anyway.
 
Ysidro said:
More compact footprint and a much, much smaller turning radius. Makes it much easier to control in areas with pedestrian traffic, which is what it's for.
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The thing seats two people: it is too wide and too fast to let that thing on sidewalks. NPR reported that the makers are envisioning a separate lane or path specifically for these things.
 
Ladewig said:
The thing seats two people: it is too wide and too fast to let that thing on sidewalks. NPR reported that the makers are envisioning a separate lane or path specifically for these things.
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I was refering to a Segway, not the PUMA.
 
Have to disagree with the general sentiment here. It seems quite safer than a moped, and it will keep you dry if the weather's bad (the proposed design has doors). Definitely not an ATV, but as a city commuter I can see the potential. If it's cheap enough, I would buy one of those for the everyday commute.

Also, cities can make it advantageous for people to own this kind of vehicle, by exempting it of parking fees, and allowing access to the inner parts of the city to "micro electrics" and public transportation only. Unlike the segway, I like this concept...
 
Ladewig said:
The thing seats two people: it is too wide and too fast to let that thing on sidewalks. NPR reported that the makers are envisioning a separate lane or path specifically for these things.
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So just need major infarstructure changes to make them useful?

Now maybe a parralell system for bikes and light vehicals like this might be a good idea, but it is not going to happen any time soon. In the forseable future it will have to compete with trucks and such and I just would never feel safe in one on a street.

Might work on a college campus or other restricted area though.
 
TX50 said:
It's just a glorified Sinclair C5.
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Dear God I remember those.

I lived in Cambridge at the time not far from Sir Clive's house.

We even saw a couple on the street sometimes. The drivers always looked really scared.
 
What I'm wondering about the PUMA is theft-prevention. What do you do with it once you get to work? A Segway, you could probably take right into most work places, but this would be a bit too large for that. Where do you leave it? Do you chain it to a bike rack?
 
billydkid said:
Well, you know, I saw this on TV and it made me think of the one wheeled motorcycle I saw in some magazine. My question is this, what on earth happens when you slam on the brakes? It seems to me that being able to slam on the breaks when you need to is a basic safety feature, but I just can't see anyway that can be done on such a vehicle.
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Simple: it leans backwards. Lean back at a 45 degree angle, and the thing can decelerate at 1 G (assuming the tires can handle it), which is pretty decent. The computer keeps it from toppling backwards.

- Dr. Trintignant
 
The report I read said that the vehicles would eventually be fitted with crash-prevention technology including GPS and transponders. It would be un-crashable, as it would not let the user bring it into contact with any objects.

When cars first came out they were slow, expensive, required special infrastructure, dangerous, and generally just crap.

Give it time. :)

I think anyone who is developing alternative modes of transportation that don't rely on fossil fuels should be encouraged.
 
ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
This is actually something I never quite understood about the Segway: What is its big advantage over a scooter?
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Quieter
Doesn't burn fossil fuels
More maneuverable
Smaller footprint
More stable
Better driver visibility
Lighter

(Just off the top of my head)


ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
The other thing I never understood is the whole gyroscope thing. It has an incredibly complex (and expensive) system of gyroscopes to keep the thing upright. While it's a neat piece of engineering, what's the big advantage over, say.... just adding two more, smaller wheels?
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It's a bit more than that. The gyroscopes also manage the movement of the vehicle, making it much more maneuverable and intuitive to control. In addition, vehicles with wheels can be tipped over - a gyro-stabilised vehicle can't. Bear in mind there are four-wheel Segways as well.
 
gumboot said:
Quieter
Doesn't burn fossil fuels
More maneuverable
Smaller footprint
More stable
Better driver visibility
Lighter

(Just off the top of my head)
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As I said before, weather-proof... I would think a lot more people would use scooters or bikes if it weren't for fear of arriving to the office with your hair in a mess or, worse case, drenched and dirty
 
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