Honda uses robotic technology in hands free Uni-Cub unicycle

Posted By: Pratima Kalra | May 15 2012

Making the world a hands free domain through the discipline of robotics is a logical advancement up the technological ladder. To propagate this idea, Mamoru Mohri, the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission specialist at Honda Motor Co. recently demonstrated their latest innovation, a hands free scooting seat, the Uni-Cub. Displayed at the science museum in Tokyo, Uni Cub looks like a floating car seat that will obey the commands of your body movements to take you around, while keeping the ride absolutely hands free.

Honda robotic unicycle

Once seated on the scooter like unicycle, all you have to do is sway your body from one side to another to make it turn. You can rotate a full circle if you wish, while zipping around on the Uni- Cub. The design of the unicycle is unique in the sense that there is one main operative wheel, on which the seat of the cycle rests and there is a tiny one at the back, which is responsible for the circular movement of the seat.

A few people who have had the opportunity to ride Uni- Cub claim that it takes a little while for adjusting oneself with the new riding mechanism, but once acclimatized, it responds smoothly to the slightest movements of the body, economising on the muscle power. If you lean forward, it will go straight, a left tilt will take you left and so on, and if all fails, the unicycle automatically comes to a halt.

Giving a verdict on the performance of Uni-Cub is not yet possible as other technical details are not available, but one thing is sure that it can only operate smoothly on flat surfaces and its speed is low enough, so even if it will crash, it will not harm any pedestrians. Commercial production too is not planned for now and therefore no pricing policy is in place.