[extropy-chat] Segways banned in Disney World

[Alan Eliasen]

Mike Lorrey wrote:
>>>You may as well avoid cars since running out of fuel at 85mph can
>>>cause
>>>harm.
>>
>>Completely different failure mode.
> 
> Yeah, sure, on a busy highway. What again is the kinetic energy of a
> 2000 lb car at that velocity? Thats 21 million lb ft^2/sec^2

   Actually, it's 15.5 million lb ft^2/sec^2.  In Frink notation, (
http://futureboy.homeip.net/frinkdocs/ )

   1/2 2000 lb (85 mph)^2 -> million lb ft^2/s^2
gives
   15.54

> A Segway in tip over mode is going 8 mph. Weight of you and it, lets
> say 250 lb = 36,000 lb ft^2/sec^2, or less than two tenths of one
> percent of the kinetic energy of the car running out of gas.

   This answer is actually 17,000 lb ft^2/sec^2.

1/2 250 lb (8 mph)^2 -> lb ft^2/s^2
   gives
  17209

   I'm not sure where the calculation went wrong, but this is the kind of
thing that Frink is designed to help you do effortlessly.

   The interesting thing about the Segway's design, or really most 2-wheel
balancing designs is that you actually have to speed up to stop.  The machine
has to go faster to get its wheels out in front of the center of mass.  The
harder you're going to brake, the faster the wheels have to go for a few seconds.

   Should a Segway be allowed in places that I can't take my 2-wheeled
(inline) electric scooter?  If so, why?  They both have approximately the same
mass, top speed, range, footprint, noise level, and more... and I get to sit
down.  Should I be able to drive it around the mall?  The nice thing is that I
could buy 33 of them (at $149) for the same price as one Segway, and if it
runs out of battery, it just eases to a stop...or I can use the handbrake.
But Segway is still cool.  I'm going to build my own stand-up-robot someday.

-- 
  Alan Eliasen                 | "You cannot reason a person out of a
  eliasen at mindspring.com       |  position he did not reason himself
  http://futureboy.homeip.net/ |  into in the first place."
                               |     --Jonathan Swift