MIT Inspired Impromptu SegStick

If many of the readers out there longed for a Segway for Christmas but Santa didn’t bring you one, you are in luck.  The aptly named Seg-Stick by [scolton] is a great way for cheap transportation.  It uses a broomstick, along with two DeWalt cordless drills to power this bad boy on 6” wheels. Like articles done before on Hack a Day this is an awesome although rudimentary example of the things that can be made with a short amount of time, some determination, and a few power tools. Great job [scolton].

15 thoughts on “MIT Inspired Impromptu SegStick

  1. Small if significant suggestion…
    add a set of switches one under each foot to stop it moving around when you don’t have both feet firmly on board and just allow enough movement to allow it to balance (: saves destroying your work shop with a run away SegStick.
    I also noticed that theirs only seems to have one battery running it? half power? I would prefer to see at least one and a half times power if not double (i may have to bench test under load to see the maximum voltage before I burn the motors out[just because I like the smell… haha)
    im thinking maybe I can get away with ball-bearings in a series of plastic tubes with springs in the ends extra (as a cheap giro) and a two DPDT relays or some mosfets in parallel for control, to save on controller boards. No aldreno sorry to all the people on here i know you love them but personally I avoid them for that very reason :D I like the simple but elegant solution, the hacked or the slapped together in a hurry from bits in the junk box one. haha.
    may remove or weld solid the chucks on the drills if I can to stop them clicking with all the extra power I intend to add (:
    maybe a pair optical encoders from an old mouse on the motor not the wheels so i can measure the distance with a couple of 10 bit counters and a comparator. hmm.. an idea is forming i had better draw it so i dont forget the first bit by the time i get to the end (:
    something tells me i shall be building something tomorrow (: (hang on i do every night haha)
    take care and happy hacking (i mean new year… haha

  2. Ummm CRJEEA, it’s Arduino, and one of the great things about it is that you can slap it into a system for quick prototypes. I’ve got a few hanging around in my kit that for a first pass I can throw into projects, and then for V2 I can put in something else.

  3. one of the best builds yet…. problem is, the segway is a joke for “transportation” it offers no advantages other than to let people to turn into larger blobs of glutinous fat.

    Call me when there is a segway that can do 70mph.

  4. Yeah, but heaven forbid someone builds a compact and fun demonstration of control theory for their own amusement and education.

    No, way, we can’t have that at all.

    Call me when you understand the principles of operation behind an inverted pendulum system.

  5. The DeWalt usage is popular due to the integrated system it provides – power, motor, transmission, with the chuck providing lots of coupling options. A lot of FIRST teams used them, and I’m sure the idea was around before that. Regardless of how expensive the drills are, custom gearboxes aren’t cheap either.

  6. Instructables has the absolute worst, most convoluted, difficult to read layout anywhere on the entire internet. Sorry, I can’t waste any more time there. Otherwise great project.

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