Talk:Monowheel

Motorized monocycles
Can someone add more info about motorized monocycles, such as this, this or this (Japanese)?

-- NeoThe1 14:52, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

PS. They were the key feature of a South Park episode

"Visibility issues"
Any citations for this, or is it just hearsay? Just how wide are the frames on monocycles and how does it impact the rider's visibility more than the a-pillar on the average SUV? 24.92.241.215 04:23, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

No other vehicles actually have, in effect, a pillar directly in front of the rider, however. In all videos of Kerry Maclean, you can see him leaning to one side to see ahead.

I believe there is another issue, but I don't know the exact term, it has to do with the wheel flopping from side to side and the flop growing in strength until the wheel falls over, I remember in the Junkyard Wars episode they showed a video of a monowheel doing this. MarkButler10 (talk) 15:36, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Gerbilling
The edit for 14:58, 27 June 2006 by JzG (Talk | contribs) is labelled "(rm. silly gerbilling reference)", the edit in question having been the removal of the phrase from the paragraph "Another problem of the Monowheel is that of "gerbilling." "

This is in fact a well used term in monowheel circles to describe the effect of sudden accelleration and more often decelleration, as the wheel stops dead and the rider begins to spin round the axis like a gerbil in a wheel. I suspect that the editor deemed it to be a "silly reference" because the only current reference to "gerbilling" in Wikipedia is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerbilling which although possibly equally hazardous to the health, involves an altogether more uncomfortable ride.

Perhaps this could be added back in with a disambiguation page, which coincidentally would help in the case that someone, hypothetically, would be looking for information on the usage of the term in relation to monowheels, and would then not have to wash their eyes with industrial cleaner. *shudder*

Literrary references
A monowheel vehicle figures prominently in an attack upon the primary character of the novel "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" by Robert Heinlein.75.65.59.82 01:46, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Philip Beltracchi's mousetrap powered monowheel?
Is this "Philip Beltracchi's mousetrap powered monowheel" described in the article real or made-up? Google returned no other references to such a thing. 69.242.85.126 20:03, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Steering Options
Through trial and a lot of error, I found the best and easiest way to steer these things is by lightly dragging a foot on the opposite side of the wheel that you wish to turn towards. To turn right, drag your left foot on the ground (do not dab your foot as it will toss you over). The longer you drag, the farther the wheel will lean. The harder you drag, the faster the wheel will lean. When you lift your foot the wheel stays leaned over and you arc to the right. To return the wheel upright, drag the right foot until it returns upright or keep dragging and it will lean over to the left.

This effect is similar to holding a spinning bicycle wheel in front of you with one hand on each side of the axle. If you pull directly back with the left hand, the wheel will lean to the right.

This technique is easily learned and offers a lot more control than just trying to influence the wheel's path by leaning your body, especially at faster speeds when the gyroscopic effect is harder to overcome by leaning. Ydnarman (talk) 22:07, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Definition
Is there any solid source to confirm the definition of Monowheel? The Uno (motorcycle) article is claiming that the device it describes is a monowheel, but the thing has two wheels. -AndrewDressel (talk) 20:24, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Image
Can a schematic be made on the monowheel deisgned by Ben Wilson(http://www.dezeen.com/2008/04/21/monowheel-by-ben-wilson/ ). I was wondering whether one could make a simple schematic of the workings of the monowheel and place it in the wikimedia commons ? The image would be made in a way similar to this picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USPatent_6752231.png The image should make clear how the power transfer is done, this is not at all clear in the pictures at dezeen. One may do so trough the use of arrows pointing to the direction of movement and the parts moved by the action. The power transfer from the pedals to the outer wheel puzzle me and I believe other people too. Also, I was thinking of making a variation of this picture showing the implementation of an engine and possibly the use of a mere (thick & wide) rubber belt as wheel; this eliminates the possibility of flat tyres and decreases chance of falling over. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.176.1.77 (talk) 16:10, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Could we also have a photograph that was less circus-like? --Easyas12c (talk) 16:17, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

The Vezdekhod: A "Monotank"?
Vezdekhod The Vezdekhod had a welded frame which ran on a single wide track made from rubberized fabric stretched over four drums, with a fifth drum tensioning the track from above.

Because the Vezdekhod has only One Track, it can be called a "Monotank" and both the term and the article should be included here. --Arima (talk) 05:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Rotundus GroundBot
The Rotundus GroundBot was described in "Is it possible ?" (refs= http://science.discovery.com/videos/popscis-future-of-groundbot.html, http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/is-it-possible-babysitting-robot.html ) as being usable as a people mover (it changes direction by weight shifting). In effect, this would be a motorized monowheel/dicycle. 91.182.4.242 (talk) 08:00, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I've cleaned up your links. —Tamfang (talk) 20:47, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Stability
Monowheels are inherently more stable than unicycles, because the rider's center of mass is much lower to the ground relative to the axis of rotation.
 * This assertion would need a reference to stay in the article, and in any case I believe it is incorrect, or at least too vague to be found correct or not. When stationary, monowheels are longitudinally stable because the center of mass is below the axle and they are laterally unstable, but the low center of mass does not help. -AndrewDressel (talk) 05:57, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Here is more information on the subject...
I will try and integrate this with citations when I can. Feel free to run with it if I don't get to it soon.


 * Motoruota: The Monowheel That Might’ve -- Hemmings Daily
 * History of the World’s Craziest Invention – The Monowheel -- Impact Lab

Koala Tea Of Mercy ( KTOM's Articulations &amp; Invigilations ) 14:23, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Monowheel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080504030515/http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=270 to http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=270

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 22:18, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Legality of driving on public roads

 * What are the laws regarding driving these vehicles on public roads in various countries? 79.79.248.65 (talk) 17:49, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

Uncited material in need of citations
I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 14:29, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

LEAD SECTION
Instead of sitting above the wheel as in a unicycle, the rider sits either within the wheel 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.

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.

Steering
In a two-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; this generally makes steering more difficult. In a majority of systems, change in direction is effected by the rider shifting their weight, or in the sudden movement creating a shearing force between a handhold and the axis that the driver is settled on. Better control can usually be achieved at lower speeds. Because of the steering problem, monowheels have never caught on as a widely accepted mode of transportation.

A change in direction can be effected in several ways including:
 * Leaning. The most common steering solution is that the rider must lean towards their intended direction of travel to turn, and then re-center their weight again once the turn is complete.
 * Turning a gyroscope to provide turning force.
 * Outboard skids to provide friction drag on one side.
 * At speeds faster than a walk, lightly dragging a foot on the ground will cause the wheel to lean to the opposite side. Drag the other foot to bring it back upright.
 * 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 could be unsafe.
 * Steerable tail surfaces, similar to those on airplanes. This solution would not work at low speeds.

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 the view of oncoming hazards from all angles.

Variants and related vehicles
There have been many proposals for variants or uses, such as a horse-drawn monowheel or a monowheel tank. A variant was proposed that placed two riders outside of the wheel itself, with one person on each side to provide for balance.

An electric monowheel called Dynasphere was tested in 1932 in the United Kingdom.

One variant called a RIOT wheel was presented at Burning Man in 2003. It 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 company in the Netherlands began taking custom orders of a monocycle configured variant called the Wheelsurf in 2007. 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.

In 1971, an American inventor named Kerry McLean built his first monocycle (aka monowheel). In 2000, he built a larger version, the McLean Rocket Roadster powered by a Buick V-8 engine, which subsequently crashed in 2001 during the initial test run. McLean survived and proceeded to build over 25 different variations of his version of the monocycle, from pedal powered models, 5HP models, all the way up to V8 powered models.

In 2010, Nokia utilized two of McLean's monocycles in their commercials promoting the new Nokia SatNav smartphone.