User manual

Steadiseg User Manual Chris Fawcett 2013/06
4.1 Engage the Machine
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Wrong Right
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Now practice moving forwards. To do this, don’t just bend at the waist and lean
over. Initiate all movements from the hips, engaging the machine through the
control stick. Make a slight kneeling motion and incline your whole body forwards,
keeping your feet evenly planted on the base, and pushing your knees against the
forward pads. The self-balancing nature of the Segway now rolls the machine
under your centre of gravity to prevent you from falling over.
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To stop, or to go backwards, transfer your weight back—again not by leaning or
bending backwards, but by sitting slightly as you would onto a stool, and
engaging the rear pads with your calf muscles. In both these operations, your
head, neck, and back maintain the same erect orientation.
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The Steadiseg is a reactive device that gives you feedback about how it is coping
with the ride. Don’t just dump your weight into the control stick to pressure the
machine forward, but do stay in contact with it. At times, usually during fast
acceleration with a heavy load, the Segway pushes back slightly because it can’t
draw power quickly enough from the batteries. If you’re not engaging the
machine properly, you’ll find it harder to sense what it is doing.
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4.2 The Spiral
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You may have already noticed how uncomfortable it is to steer the machine while
moving backwards. Here is the solution—as with accelerating and decelerating,
you must initiate turns from the head. The following text is demanding, but the
technique it describes is simple. Master it now, and complicated maneuvers will
come easily. If you don’t, you’ll constantly struggle to find your balance.
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