We’ve see a handful of great custom vehicles but this one may be the most fun, it’s like having your own amusement park encased in two wheels. The DIY Electric Diwheel circular vehicle is capable of cruising at near 40MPH, invert the driver, and do lots of crazy circular movements as if you were flying a jet airplane (but you are not).
This has to be one of the most creative vehicles invented in our lifetime, take a look at the video of it in action below:
This honours project involved the construction of a human operated diwheel. Many diwheels in the past have been human powered or powered by IC engines. This one is purely electric. It has additional functionality lacking in other models, including inbuilt dynamic lateral stability and slosh control to prevent “gerbiling” or tumbling in aggressive braking or acceleration maneuvers. The diwheel also incorporates a unique feature that allows the rider to drive the vehicle when “upside down” – keeping the vehicle in its unstable state is achieved using a combined swingup and inversion controller. The mechanical design and some of the electronics was completed in 2009, with the majority of the electronics and control systems developed in 2010. A photograph of the final system is shown below.
