Monowheel | GIZMODO.cz

When people say the future of transport is electric, I think there’s a fundamental problem with their vision. Electric cars aren’t the future of mobility, electric transport is. We ditched the internal combustion engine and moved to a simple battery, motor, and wheels setup… so why are we still sticking to cars? They’re expensive, and they’re kind of a waste of space if you’re traveling alone in a 4-seater. The NAO.WHEEL challenges the notion of EVs being the future by presenting something a little more sophisticated. Designed as a monowheel that can be used solo or even joined together as modules, the NAO.WHEEL opens up a possible future where transport isn’t space-consuming. The NAO.WHEEL stands at under 2 feet tall, and just a few inches thick. Step on it, and it uses a gyroscope to balance as it transports you from A to B. Want to travel farther/safer? Two NAO.WHEELs snap together either side by side like a hoverboard, or front and back like an e-scooter, with a platform in the middle for you to stand on, allowing you to intuitively get to places without needing a massive car… and without needing to parallel park ever again.

Designer: Nao.design

The folks at Nao.design like to call the NAO.WHEEL “micro-mobility, macro convenience”. When asked about the Model T, Henry Ford famously said that if he asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for ‘faster horses’, because imagining a car in a horse-driven world wasn’t something regular people could do. The NAO.WHEEL is the exact same thing, but for cars. It challenges the notion that you need a car or motorcycle to get from A to B. You just need wheels that move, and a platform that moves you – something that the NAO.WHEEL condenses to its simplest form.

Sort of like earbuds, the NAO.WHEEL comes in a pair (left and right) but can be used individually. Singularly, the individual wheel has two pedals to stand on, but some may find the monowheel setup a little daunting. This is where the second wheel comes in. The second wheel either snaps to the first, creating a double-wheel that’s a little more stable, offers higher power, better turning, and twice the battery… or snapped to a module along with the first, creating a hoverboard or a scooter (as is visible above).

The NAO.WHEEL’s design is markedly different from your average hoverboard, earning it the Red Dot Award for Design Concept. The wheel is entirely hubless, creating a hollow center that really wows you when you look at it. The wheel has batteries built into its inner rim, using multiple cells arrayed in a circle. This helps with weight distribution, while a built-in gyroscope allows the wheel to stand upright while in use without having the dubious balance of a unicycle. Mount the NAO.WHEEL and it’s about as comfortable as a Segway or Hoverboard. There’s a minimal learning curve, and using the vehicle depends entirely on how you lean, allowing you to easily travel on wheels as if you’re cycling or running. And if you plan on traveling at night, don’t worry – the NAO.WHEEL comes equipped with both a headlight as well as a taillight to keep you aware and visible in the dark.

The post Remember Hoverboards? They’re now Hubless, Single-wheeled, and Modular thanks to this Wild Concept first appeared on Yanko Design.

Creating extreme stuff from junk is a special skill that YouTube channel ‘Make It Extreme’ possesses. Their Monotrack bike made from a single recycled car tire was something of a shocker and they’ve upped the ante with another custom build. Called the Electric Monowheel this is a Herculine version that positions the rider inside the wheel.

The obvious challenge in making this big wheel was actually creating a perfectly round wheel measuring 9.1 inches in diameter. Due to the large shape, the metallic wheel acts as a base for the rubber tires salvaged out of a motorcycle and go-kart. These three recycled tires are connected to make the final giant wheel.

Designer: Make It Extreme

The chassis of this unique ride is the centric circle that stays stable even when the outside wheel is in motion. The trick here is to attach three rollers and a plastic encasing on which the wheel spins. To put it simply, just take for reference a hamster wheel. The power for this monowheel is derived from a go-kart’s electric motors attached to the tire. This explains the use of go-kart tires that are non-slip and provide transmission to the wheels without any wheel spin. The steering input is translated instantly to the movement of the wheel and so is the throttle input via the two controllers.

The current build has a better torque of the electromotion that is attributed to the faster-reacting motor. This is a major improvement over the earlier version. According to the makers, the vehicle feels very amazing to drive even though it is a bit dangerous if you don’t know how to handle it. There’s some good news for DIYers who are interested in this project as Make It Extreme is in the process of preparing the detailed plans of the monowheel motorcycle. That means you’ll have all the groundwork served on the platter for you to build on.