Move aside, Segway: Honda's Uni-Cub could make walking a thing of the past

Behold, the future of personal mobility devices: The Honda Uni-Cub. The Uni-Cub, which is self-balancing, has zero turning radius, and is battery powered, is essentially a sit-on Segway without any handlebars. Most importantly, the Uni-Cub is much smaller and easier to maneuver than the Segway, allowing for Uni-Cub users to ride alongside or even within a pack of pedestrians (and yes, when you sit on the Uni-Cub, you don't tower above everyone else: your head is at the same height as someone standing up). The main usage scenario for the Uni-Cub is moving around internal spaces, such as offices and museums: Not only is it easier and faster than walking, but compared to other personal mobility devices it also leaves your hands free to operate a smartphone or some other implement of your choosing.

The Honda Uni-Cub is essentially a stool with two wheels, one very large and one very small. Within the chassis there's a lithium-ion battery (good for 90 minutes of use), a computer, and a bunch of sensors (to enable self-balancing). To drive the Uni-Cub, you simply lean in the direction you want to go -- forward, back, left, or right -- and yes, you can gently lean around a swooping corner. It's probably best if you watch the video for a better idea of how the lean-based controls work. There are two rests for your feet, but no handholds. Like I said, it really is a mobile stool.

(The video shows a previous iteration of the Uni-Cub that's slightly larger, but otherwise they're almost identical.)

While the self-balancing tech is clever, the real secret sauce behind the Uni-Cub -- and the reason it's so small -- is its use of the Honda Omni Traction (HOT) Drive System. HOT comprises of two wheels: a big one under the driver, and a smaller secondary wheel. The big wheel moves the Uni-Cub forwards and backwards -- but along the length of the big wheel there's also a series of smaller inline wheels that are perpendicularly mounted. When you lean left or right, these smaller wheels rotate, shifting the Uni-Cub sideways. The back wheel provides stability, helps with lateral moves, and allows you to rotate around a single spot on the floor.

The HOT Drive System is shown at 1:10 in the video above.

Honda's personal mobility efforts started as part of its robotics research -- which, as you probably know, has resulted in a very long line of humanoid ASIMO robots since the 1980s (Honda released a new ASIMO just a few days ago, in fact). Humanoid robots also need to be agile and self-balancing, so it's no real surprise that the research led to the creation of the Uni-Cub. There have been a few Uni-Cub prototypes, including the rather scary-looking U3-X unicycle in 2009 (it was still self-balancing, but the addition of a second wheel in the newer Uni-Cub definitely makes it look more secure). [Read: Hyundai E4U: Are eggmobile personal transports the solution to urban sprawl?]