Monowheel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A monowheel is a one-wheeled vehicle similar to a unicycle. However, instead of sitting above the wheel, the rider sits either within it or next to it. The wheel is a ring, usually driven by smaller wheels pressing against its inner rim. Most are single-passenger vehicles, though multi-passenger models have been built.
Pedal-powered monowheels were built in the late 19th century; most built in the 20th century have been motorized. Some modern builders refer to these vehicles as monocycles, though that term is also sometimes used to describe motorized unicycles.
Today, monowheels are generally built and used for fun and entertainment purposes, though from the 1860s through to the 1930s, they were proposed for use as serious transportation.
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[edit] Steering
In a bi-wheel mode of transportation, two systems (wheels) affect motion. Typically one wheel provides the force to control speed, while the other handles changes in direction - steering. For a monowheel, both direction and speed are controlled through the same physical apparatus. As such one usually suffers for the other, but in this case steering is usually more difficult. In the majority of systems, change in direction is affected by the rider shifting its weight, or in the sudden movement creating a sheering force between a handhold and the axis that the driver is settled on. Better control can usually be achieved at slower speeds. As expected, monowheels have never caught on as a widely accepted mode of transportation.
[edit] Possible Steering "Options"
Because of the unique method of steering this type of vehicle, there are many used and theoretical ways to effect a change in direction. Several methods are as follows:
- Leaning. The most common steering solution is that the rider must lean towards his intended direction of travel to turn, and then recentralise his weight once the turn is complete.
- Turning a gyroscope to provide turning force.
- Outboard skids to provide friction drag on one side.
- Small wheels used for steering, either one to each side or a single unit either in front of or behind the vehicle. It is a matter of debate as to whether such a vehicle would still properly be called a monowheel.
- Steerable propellers, which could provide both steering and power to move the vehicle. It has been noted that having a propeller operating near pedestrians would likely be quite unsafe.
- Steerable tail surfaces, similar to those on airplanes. This solution would not work at low speeds.
[edit] Other issues
- Limited horizontal stability. A single wheel can fall over, unless it is quite wide or has some form of active stabilization, such as a gyroscope. Some designs have used outrigger skids or small wheels to address this. In many one-person designs, being at a stop requires the driver to put their feet on the ground, the same way as on a motorcycle.
- Limited capacity. Monowheels tend to be larger than a car of similar carrying capacity. Most have been kept small by being built to carry only one rider and with little or no space for baggage.
- Risk of "gerbiling". In most designs, if the driver accelerates or brakes too hard, it is possible that the force applied overcomes the force of gravity keeping the rider at the bottom of the wheel, sending the rider spinning around the inside of the wheel. This is known as gerbiling, because it has some similarity to the situation of a gerbil running too quickly inside of a hamster wheel.
- Visibility issues. In driver-inside designs, the rider is always facing the inner rim of the wheel, which can obstruct oncoming hazards.
[edit] Variants and related vehicles
There have been many proposals for variants or uses that were even more impractical than the basic vehicle, such as a horse-drawn monowheel or a monowheel tank or Philip Beltracchi's mousetrap powered monowheel. A variant was proposed that placed two riders outside of the wheel itself, with one person on each side to provide for balance.
One interesting variant presented at Burning Man in 2003 involves the passengers sitting in front of the wheel and being balanced by a heavy counterweight inside the wheel. Rather than the typical ring drive, this vehicle is powered through a sprocket attached to the spokes.
A related vehicle is the diwheel or the dicycle, in which the rider is suspended between or inside of a pair of large wheels placed side by side. An example of this would be the character Axel from the Twisted Metal series of video games published by Sony.
[edit] Appearances in media
[edit] Fiction
- Iain Banks' book Against a Dark Background contains a rare instance of a monowheel as an important feature of a fictional work.
- Stanislav Lem's novel Eden features motorized variants of the monowheel.
- In Katsuhiro Otomo's 2004 film Steamboy, Ray Steam, the protagonist of the story, uses a steam-powered monowheel early in the movie.
- In Hiroya Oku's manga series Gantz, the players are provided with a very fast motorized monowheel (called the Gantz Bike) to evade their alien opponents during a mission later in the story.
- In South Park episode "The Entity" Mr Garrison makes a gyroscope-stabilized, turbine-engine-propelled device resembling the monowheel, called "IT" (pronounced the word "it", a play on early hype for the Segway), with a rather uncomfortable user interface.
- In the French animated television series Code Lyoko, the character Ulrich Stern uses a monowheel called a "monocycle" (basically a motorized unicycle) as his vehicle of choice on Lyoko. Ulrich's, in particular, is capable of flight and land travel, and he refers to it as the "Overbike".
- In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, the character Sheen pilots a flying monowheel type device which can travel in space.
- In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous uses a wheel bike similar to a monowheel.
- In the animated series and action figure line Spiral Zone, Colonel Dirk Courage rode the Rimfire, a large monowheel with an attached cannon.
- In the OVA series Dirty Pair Flash Mission 3, a young female assassin called Monica drives a Red Futuristic Monowheel.
- The Mowercycle of Chaotic is a monowheel with gripping teeth that also act as sawteeth.
- The War Wheel is a huge, armored battle tank that first appeared in DC's Blackhawk comic. War wheels were also used in the Justice League (TV series). [1]
[edit] Non-fiction
- In an episode of the British television show Scrapheap Challenge, two teams competed to build and race monowheels.
- In the Australian Reality TV show Push the Limit a monowheel challenge ended when contestant Kate Siopis fractured her wrist.
[edit] Advertising media
- In a 2007 television commercial produced for the drink brand Capri Sun, a boy and a girl are both riding in variants which appear to be manufactured vehicles made of metal and fiberglass (up to the point where they are levitated into the air by a CGI effect).
