Recall of Segway Announced by CPSC

mshiltonj writes "The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of the Segway human transporter. The hazard is that under certain operating conditions, particularly when the batteries are near the end of charge, some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert."

That explains the Shrub...

[gokubi]

some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert.

or if the rider is fresh from a tennis match with Poppy, rushing to an appointment to bomb some unsuspecting nation back to the stone age [bbc.co.uk].

Oh well...

[evel aka matt]

It looks like there's going to be 3 very dissapointed people out there.

size?

[Lxy]

Does this have anything to do with the size of the rider? If you continually fall off your Segway, maybe it's just a sign to GET OFF AND WALK for awhile.

[OT] Please help...

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a fisherman, and I fish out in the North Sea, near oil-rigs. I mainly fish for crabs but generally sell anything I catch. On my small boat is a laptop with Linux installed, which is running open source software for controlling the electronical fishing rods, which hauntingly swing and sway above the cold blue surface of the sea.

While I find being able to administer my fiashing rods from the powerful BASH shell both efficient, safe and empowering, this software has a bug which causes a huge 20 farad capacitor in the rod to discharge into the ocean at random intervals. The voltage induced is so large that it causes various potentially hazardous metals to be come electroplated to the hull of my ship. Often by the time I reach harbour my ship is so laden with electrolysed metal that it is barely bouyant, and occasionally I am not allowed entry.

This is killing my buisnes. While I love the ideals of Linux, the inherent instability is not tolerable. So I am asking, are there any quality fishing-rod control programs available for Windows or Apple operating systems?

Thanks in advance... sorry for the OT-ness...

Re:That explains the Shrub...

[Gibble]

But this is a guy who nearly died from a pretzel...so you can hardly blame the segway if he fell.

That reminds me...

[Anonymous Coward]

As the great philosopher xterm [bash.org] once wrote,

<xterm> The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

Imagery

[Improv]

I love the imagery involved in this..
*VROOM* *VROOM* *put* *put* *put* *creeeeek* *thump* OW!

Heh

All these rich people falling on their faces

[digitalgimpus]

Damn. Nobody ever recalled a poor boy's bicycle because it fall sideways when the riders energy runs out.

Re:Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

[revividus]

Segway Error 404:
Battery Not Found.

Re:Their own dumbass fault

[Anonymous Coward]

If reading a dipstick is a "battle of friggin' wits" you may want to start wearing a helmet when you walk.

I'm just suggesting this for your own safety.

In other news:

[Dark Lord Seth]

This can happen if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert.

Toyota recalled all cars manafactured since the start of the company. Under certain circumstances, when speeding up, ignoring a warning about a cliff and not braking, the car might fall down from a great heigth and kill the occupants. According to Hiyasuka Miamoto, official Toyota spokesperson, the recall will be effective immediately and no new cars will be produced "untill people stop being so fucking stupid!".

Moral of the story; warnings are called warnings for a reason.

Society gets dumber by the minute

[Daimaou]

In other news, bicycles around the world have been voluntarily recalled. It seems that if the rider stops moving their feet, the bike could potentially tip over. A minor flaying of the skin has also been reported to occur during such accidents.

Don 't blame the users....

[EnlightenmentFan]

Pullleez---I'm speeding along the sidewalk, talking on my cellphone, checking my Palm Pilot, and now you expect me to keep an eye on the power indicator too?

Oops, damn, there goes another pedestrian....

Re:That explains the Shrub...

[Anonymous Coward]

"The machine's creator, Dean Kamen, wants to see US Special Forces troops eventually ride Segways into battle."

That would only toughen their image, I'm sure.

Re:That reminds me...

[Snard]

Or as Larry Niven would say, "Think of it as evolution in action."

All floors recalled

[m0smithslash]

It has been determined that people standing, walking and running on floors have fallen for unexplained reasons. Until these reasons can be determined, all floors in the US are being recalled. It is recommended that you do not walk, run or stand on any floor until the cause of this public health hazard can be determined and all floors repaired. Using a floor in this way can cause injury or death.

Caution is advised whenever you must make contact with any floor. The recomended uses of a floor now include laying and sitting. The safety of crawling on a floor is being studied at this time.

In other news the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division [dhmo.org] is recommending that the government Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide [circus.com].

Re:That explains the Shrub...

[El]

I think the theory is that terrorists will be too convulsed with laughter to bother with shooting at them...

Re:Notice the numbers?

[JaredOfEuropa]

Yes, I think we can put off 'redesigning our cities' for a bit, untill they sell a few more of them.

Damn!

[GillBates0]

and my girlfriend broke up with me when both of us fell off the thing. i was only trying to impress her with my l33t segway riding skills :(

It wasn't my fault honey come backkk :'(

If you mock the President, ...

[burgburgburg]

or consider mocking the President or laugh when someone else mocks the President or even think of laughing when someone else mocks the President, then the terrorists win. You're giving aid and comfort to America's enemies. Now just step away from the computer and wait for your Guantanamo relocation expert who will be there shortly.

Re:Imagery

[IIRCAFAIKIANAL]

I prefer the imagery I receive from this choice quote:

"The machine's creator, Dean Kamen, wants to see US Special Forces troops eventually ride Segways into battle. "

My brain is associating the images with "Ride of the Valkyrie" too :D

Re:If you mock the President, ...

[jafiwam]

Oh come on now. Seriously, remember these:

- Bush Sr. puking on the Japanese Prime Minister
- Bush and the Bracholi
- Carter's peaunut farmer/ brewer brother
- That dress, wearing guy (Roosevelt?)
- Quayle and the spelling, or bumping the panic alarm (so the secret service freaks out)
- etc.

It's part of what makes this country great, being able to make fun of one's leaders.

Translation:

[stienman]

The decision we made when we designed the thing was based on the idea that people would stop riding it when the battery low light came on. Since then we've realized a few things:

1) People treat battery low as "still works under all conditions" as they might if it were a gas tank. But the battery is unable to deliver the instantaneous power needed to go over certian obstacles when partially discharged.
2) The battery low signal is set too low, since even a mild partial discharge will not supply enough instantaneous power for critical maneuvers.
3) Li-Ion batteries are dieing in a pattern which we did not expect. The processor needs to assume there is less power available than what it was previously calculating.

Upshot: The software "upgrade" will give you about 10 minutes of ride time on a full charge before turning on the low battery light, then the alarm. Shortly thereafter the unit will stop in place and use its remaining power simply to stay upright.

Internal memo: Design an "upgrade" battery pack that doubles the range to 20 minutes! We'll make a killing!

-Adam

Re:[OT] Please help...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Sir,

Although I am not an expert in fishing software, I would like to suggest a superior solution. In particular, our spincast combo [amazon.com] needs no software. We also have an entire line [amazon.com] of software-free fishing products including nets and tackle equipment.

Sincerely,
Shakespeare Esq.

Your sig

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm much funnier now that I'm a subscriber."

Having just read your post, I can say, unequivocally, that are either not funnier or you were about as funny as an old lady with AIDS having a heart attack in a coma.

Re:That explains the Shrub...

[caferace]

Is that anything like transexual paratroopers?

Re:If you mock the President, ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, it was funny when Quayle couldn't spell "potato."

But not half as funny as your even-more-illiterate attempt to spell "broccoli."

Third grade called. They have an opening for you.

Get a loaner?

[greygent]

Do all the Segway owners with atrophied leg muscles and rotund asses get a loaner unit while their unit is in for repair?

It would be simply cruel to expect them to transport themselves under their own muscle power due to a defect in the Segway.

How much more obvious do I have to be?

[burgburgburg]

If you do not immediately prostrate yourself in front of the mandatory "W in a flight suit" shrine that are now federally required in every domicile (including the ever increasing cardboard boxes that the more and more "jobless recovery" slackers are infesting) and beg forgiveness for ever doubting that his resolve to make sure that every person making over $200,000 a year from investments would not only have to pay no taxes but would instead be given both cash on the barrelhead and lucrative contracts to rebuild Iraq ,pushing the national debt to $1 trillion dollars, would somehow lead to an economic boom, then you are an enemy combatant and the terrorists win.

John Ashcroft will personally be by in a few minutes to take you to Guantanamo.

Re:Their own dumbass fault

[cosmo7]

I agree. Using analogies on Slashdot is like comparing apples and oranges.

When I drink too much...

[Anonymous Coward]

I become unstable and fall over.

1) Will I be recalled soon?
2) Is there a software upgrade available that will prevent this from happening in the future?

This is a BAD thing?

[camusflage]

Personally, it sounds like Darwin in action to me. People that have more money than sense buy a toy, fall off, and potentially relieve the gene pool of the affliction.

Re:If you mock the President, ...

[Andrewkov]

consider mocking the President or laugh when someone else mocks the President or even think of laughing when someone else mocks the President, then the terrorists win.

I'm Canadian, you insensitive clod! I'm allowed to laugh at US Presidents! ...And your current one is the best in years! ;-)

Re:Don 't blame the users....

[goldfndr]

Pullleez---I'm speeding along the sidewalk, talking on my cellphone, checking my Palm Pilot, and now you expect me to keep an eye on the power indicator too?

You forgot about posting to Slashdot.

I guess your mind was elsewhere?

So what's the problem?

[aaaurgh]

Just hook the thing up to one of the TZero's [acpropulsion.com] Range extending trailers [acpropulsion.com] and the problem's solved. Hell, you might even get the thing up above 15mph! ;-)