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Build your own FreeBSD Segway clone

The Model T approach
Thu Oct 02 2003, 09:43
Blackwellway WANT TO POOTLE round town on a scooter that's Segway-like but not, of course, a Segway?

Trevor Blackwell thinks he has the answer to your dilemma. He's built a scooter in a week using bits and pieces he bought off the shelf for around $2,000.

His first version of the software - the secret of the Segway and the Blackwellway - ran in Python on a FreeBSD workstation using serial ports to talk to motor controller and gyroscope.

Now the code - just 200 lines - is written in C and sits on an embedded eight bit microcontroller on the Blackwellway.

He says his scooter is more like a Model T than a Segway Rolls Royce - and has an interesting comparison between components in his baby and the very expensive one.

His web page describes how it's all put together, and you can find it by clicking here. µ

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