PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?

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published by the WGBH Educational Foundation
supported by the National Science Foundation

In this 8-minute Flash video, physicist/inventor Dean Kamen talks about his design of the Segway personal transporter and the IBOT wheelchair. The Segway is a 2-wheeled electric powered vehicle that is accelerated by a driver's weight shift forward or backward. It uses gyroscopic sensors to detect changes in the center of mass. The dynamics of the Segway are similar to an inverted pendulum. The IBOT wheelchair is designed with two sets of powered wheels that can climb stairs and lift the driver to a standing height. It integrates gyroscopic sensors and specialized software to perform its functions.

Editor's Note: Inventor Kamen gives engaging and clear explanations of how he used Newton's Laws to design these devices. All three laws come into play.

Teachers' Domain is an NSF-funded pathway of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). It is a growing collection of videos, lessons, and activities compiled by researchers and experienced teachers to promote the use of digital resources in the classroom.

Please note that this resource requires Flash.

https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segw...

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Newton's First Law - Newton's Second Law = Force, Acceleration - Newton's Third Law = Action/Reaction - Statics of Rigid Bodies = Center of Gravity = Equilibrium = Static Torque	- High School - Middle School - Informal Education	- Instructional Material = Activity - Audio/Visual = Movie/Animation

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics - Algebra-based Physics - AP Physics	- Activity - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Learner
Educator
General Public
Formats:: application/flash
text/html
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2004 WGBH Educational Foundation
Keywords:: Segway dynamics, action/reaction, center of mass, design, dynamics, engineering, force pairs, inertia, inventions, torque
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created October 4, 2011 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: August 19, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: September 30, 2011

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

3. The Nature of Technology

3A. Technology and Science

6-8: 3A/M3. Engineers, architects, and others who engage in design and technology use scientific knowledge to solve practical problems. They also usually have to take human values and limitations into account.
9-12: 3A/H3a. Technology usually affects society more directly than science does because technology solves practical problems and serves human needs (and also creates new problems and needs).
9-12: 3A/H4. Engineers use knowledge of science and technology, together with strategies of design, to solve practical problems. Scientific knowledge provides a means of estimating what the behavior of things will be even before they are made. Moreover, science often suggests new kinds of behavior that had not even been imagined before, and so leads to new technologies.

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion

6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.
9-12: 4F/H4. Whenever one thing exerts a force on another, an equal amount of force is exerted back on it.
9-12: 4F/H7. In most familiar situations, frictional forces complicate the description of motion, although the basic principles still apply.
9-12: 4F/H8. Any object maintains a constant speed and direction of motion unless an unbalanced outside force acts on it.

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=11497">National Science Foundation. PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, September 30, 2011.</a>

AIP Format

(WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, 2004), WWW Document, (https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/).

AJP/PRST-PER

PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It? (WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, 2004), <https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/>.

APA Format

PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?. (2011, September 30). Retrieved December 13, 2024, from WGBH Educational Foundation: https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/

Chicago Format

National Science Foundation. PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, September 30, 2011. https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/ (accessed 13 December 2024).

MLA Format

PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, 2004. 30 Sep. 2011. National Science Foundation. 13 Dec. 2024 <https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Title = {PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It?}, Publisher = {WGBH Educational Foundation}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {13 December 2024}, Month = {September 30, 2011}, Year = {2004} }

Refer Export Format

%T PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It? %D September 30, 2011 %I WGBH Educational Foundation %C Boston %U https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/ %O application/flash

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %D September 30, 2011 %T PBS LearningMedia: Segway Technology: What's Newton Got to Do with It? %I WGBH Educational Foundation %V 2024 %N 13 December 2024 %8 September 30, 2011 %9 application/flash %U https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.mfw.segway/segway-technology-whats-newton-got-to-do-with-it/

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

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