> Sure I would like a small electric scooter, but I don't see a real
> advantage to Ginger versus a battery powered Razor.  Sure Ginger can
> balance at low speed, but I don't need a machine to do that!  They say
> it can go 12 or 18 mph, but how well does it corner at those speeds?  If
> you are zipping down the sidewalk and a dog runs out in front of you,
> you are still going to get a face full of gravel.  As far as I can see
> Ginger in a quick stop would have to accelerate to get your feet out in
> front of you so you could the decelerate at even a fraction of a G.
> That would feel pretty scary, and if your knees buckle, it's all over.


How well it stops depends on how good the control really is.
To the uninitiated it would certainly be scary.
Once you get it REALLY leaning backwards you could conceivably decelerate at
a healthy fraction of one g !
This is limited by the fact that as you lean backwards you decrease the
downward force of on the wheels which is required for friction to act.
At the same time you need to lean backwards to counteract the decelerating
force which want to spit you off forwards.
As you approach horizontal the flipping moment approaches zero but the
stopping friction also approaches zero.
Should be simple enough to work out the limiting case but intuitively it
feels like it may be around 0.5g

The height of the overall cofg above the wheel contact point is also a
factor
Buckling knees would help as this gets your c of g down which then requires
less backwards lean to counteract your forward deceleration.
Hanging out the back would probably help even more.
Trusting the control system to manage this without spitting you off or
laying you on your back is another matter.

Not the sort of thing you would see Joe Average Ginger user doing but you
can imagine that after you have mastered doing an aerial off the top of a
half pipe the above manoeuvres would become not only second nature but
obligatory for survival :-)



        Russell McMahon

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