Segway's Next Thingamajig

The idea of a machine that rides on four wheels or reconfigures itself to float on two had, unsurprisingly, been bouncing around the lab since the HT. By building on the HT platform, the team recognized, they could create an extremely maneuverable, speedier ATV-like vehicle that could pick up its wheels to climb over obstacles. Eventually the engineering brain trust strapped a plywood model to an HT power base and rigged it with a broom that could be pushed down, like a lever, to lift the front wheels off the floor. A video reminiscent of the Little Rascals is evidence of initial success; in its maiden voyage, the tilt sensors and gyroscopes in the base do their job, and the first prototype pops a well-balanced wheelie.


After months and months of riding around on what Field describes as “really shaky, scary concepts,” the team was able to churn out a final prototype in just four weeks. The Centaur won’t necessarily become a consumer product, but it’s no longer a nebulous concept either. Kamen has taken it for a spin and has anointed it viable. If Segway’s market analysts agree, the Centaur could drop its code name and be a real product by late next year. “We’ve proved that we can make it work and that we can make it very attractive. Now it’s a business decision,” Field says. “There are no great plans for production at this point, but if they want to build it, we could move extremely quickly.”

For Segway, the stakes are high, and the bet is characteristically quixotic. The HT hasn’t (yet?) caught fire, so why
introduce another product whose appeal is sealed only through experience and whose natural market would seem to be
nichier even than that of the niche HT—ideal for a theoretical subset of ATV enthusiasts and industrial workers looking for a clean, quiet, extremely maneuverable machine? “Real breakthroughs never occur from market pull or business briefings,” Field says, preaching the Segway gospel. “Real breakthroughs almost always come from technical exploration and people trying to solve problems before they even know why they might want to solve them. Our goal is to give the business as many ideas as possible. We kiss a lot of frogs, but this one happens to be a prince, and that’s why it’s out seeing the light of day.”After listening to a five-minute here’s-how-to-not-kill-yourself tutorial, I strap on the helmet, throw a leg over the machine, and plant my feet on the pegs. I squeeze the throttle and take off. I’m hauling. I shift my weight back and gas it up the Slip ’N’ Slide hill. Suddenly, at the crest,
I find myself balancing on my back wheels. I swear the machine read my mind. I lean in, and the Centaur glides
forward. I lean back, and it drifts in reverse. I turn the handlebar, and although the front wheels it controls are dangling three feet above the ground, the Centaur pirouettes on its axis. I release the throttle, and the front wheels fall to the ground, automatically aligning themselves on their way down. I can’t see, hear, or smell the technology, yet it’s unmistakably there.


The experience of moving and balancing this machine in ways that are physically astonishing is a rush; it’s like I’m getting away with something illegal. I balk when it’s time to get off, and take it for a final spin around the lawn. My adrenaline has kicked in, and the insides of my thighs feel bruised. I reassess the possible applications—park-ranger rover, gentleman’s ATV, killer lawn mower—and add “really fun toy for Jenny” to the list.