Personal Powered Transport

Buzzball gets things rolling

By Darren Quick

00:07 June 30, 2008 PDT

Looking like the next evolutionary step for Zorbing - but without the need for a downhill slope - the Buzzball is a giant sphere from New Zealand based promotional concepts company Evento which allows the pilot to create their own wild ride. The motion and direction of the Buzzball are controlled by a pilot inside the sphere via left and right control triggers which provide power to the driving wheels. These inner wheels in turn spin the 'pod' on its axis around the inside of the ball. Read More

iSlide: Segway meets skateboard in radical urban transport concept

By Noel McKeegan

01:35 September 18, 2007 PDT

These days the term skateboard tends to refer to a whole raft of different transport modes that go way beyond the two-axle, four wheeled conveyances that rose to prominence in the 1970s – everything from in-line caster boards to spokeless mini-motorcycles and sit-down street machines tend to be categorized under the genre. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the ramp, a new concept has emerged that could see self-balancing technology and electric propulsion incorporated into the skateboard design. The iSlide concept by industrial designer Ofir Tal is a one wheel motorized board that utilizes a hydrogen fuel cell and onboard gyroscope to attain speeds of around 15 kph. Read More

Razor Ripstik cashes in on the caster board wave.

By Loz Blain

May 27, 2007 Hot on the heels of the EssBoard, the eXboard and the Wave Board comes another two-wheeled caster board, the Ripstik from Razor. Feeling a bit like a snowboard to ride, caster boards look kind of like a skateboard with a twisty bit in the middle - but they use a single, free-rotating caster at each end rather than the skateboard's four wheels on two flexible axles. Fishtailing the rear end of the board produces forward power, meaning a rider can climb a hill without putting his foot down - and the unique steering properties of a rotating caster at each end mean the Ripstik turns on a dime under a pair of expert feet. Read More