The Michelin Challenge Design Award 08

[Jasper]

The Snook.



http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20080416/audi-snook/

[Cainad (dec.)]

Wow. I can't tell if I want one or not.


...

Hell yes! Gimme!

[Faust]

my dreams of becoming gizmoduck are one step closer to fruition.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

You may look at the Snook and think "that's impossible" or "there's no way that could stand" or "I'm not driving that". However, I believe we were all thinking the same things when the Segway was revealed.

OH SNAP

[Payne]

The Snook achieves its one-wheel balance with "agility through instability, controlled by artificial intelligence"

This is becoming quite a popular concept I think. It doesn't take AI to do it, though.

The EuroFighter is built along this principle:

The fighter achieves high agility at both supersonic and low speeds by having a relaxed stability design. It has a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire control system providing artificial stability, as manual operation alone could not compensate for the inherent instability. The fly-by-wire system is described as "carefree" by preventing the pilot from exceeding the permitted manoeuvre envelope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter#Airframe_and_avionics

Which I find interesting in itself.

[Richter]

Drunken boxing on a larger scale.

[Jasper]

Drunken boxing except in traffic, on a one wheeled car.

More like it.

[Richter]

Truf.  I'd hate to road test in one of those.

All the tedium of a mornign commute with all the fun of a demolition derby.

[Jasper]

Actually...

If everyone had a vehicle that could go in any direction, would there ever be traffic jams?