gyro beat

July 20, 2022 8:33 PM

1960s experimental gyroscopically stabilized vehicles.
posted by clavdivs (14 comments total)

That footage demanded this audio.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:16 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I mean, maybe there's something else that'd pair even better with a two wheeled zamboni lawnmower, but I don't know what.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:17 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ameriagrap(r)op
posted by clavdivs at 9:48 PM on July 20, 2022

So, Dean Kamen went back in time and tried to invent the Segway earlier so it wouldn't flop? And it still flopped?
posted by rikschell at 5:49 AM on July 21, 2022

For some reason this puts me in mind of one-wheeled wheelbarrows, though the principle is obviously completely different.
posted by clawsoon at 5:49 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

These are pretty interesting, but I can see where they weren't really needed. At the time I guess they could have done off-road hauling and light towing in places that trucks couldn't reach.

The music is a little mystifying. Not bad, though.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:51 AM on July 21, 2022

Pretty cool, and I enjoyed the music. I wish there was some information to go with it. Seems to be a solution in search of a problem.
posted by evilDoug at 6:00 AM on July 21, 2022

It also puts me in mind of how a simple wedge, deployed intelligently, can use the gyroscopic precession of a spinning bar robot to defeat it in a robot battle, as demonstrated. Tip the front of a gyroscope up a bit and precession makes one of the sides go down. If the side hits the ground, the spinning bar robot launches itself and does your job for you.

Seems to be a solution in search of a problem.

The blockchain of the '50s. We're still early.
posted by clawsoon at 6:05 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Was the slick red car thing featured on top gear or something? I've seen it before somewhere.

I think my favourite part is the first one with the period-appropriate engineer guy coupled with the big ol' goofy smiley face on the back of the vehicle.
posted by Acari at 7:52 AM on July 21, 2022

So, a motorbike that spins a wheel which has a clutch to a drive-wheel (and possibly a car-like cabin)?
posted by pompomtom at 8:32 AM on July 21, 2022

Youtube's 2X playback speed was built for podcasts/explainers/videos like this, and makes the song sound cooler too.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:38 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Especially the 2nd and 3rd song. like awesome video game music.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:41 AM on July 21, 2022

Was the slick red car thing featured on top gear or something?

I thought maybe in Jay Leno's garage? No, but I saw a recent about it somewhere, also. It's the Gyro-X and it lives in Nashville at the Lane Motor Museum.
posted by Rash at 8:42 AM on July 21, 2022

Today, my buddy sent me a video of a guy on an eFoil in one of the bays off of Boston Harbor.

That's the dream! A gyroscopically stablized eFoil, become saw-blade, anyone could ride... shredding your way across any body of water. The future has arrived!
posted by rubatan at 4:08 PM on July 21, 2022