Segue Technology Is Astounding

The Segue technology is impressive, but where is the infrastructure to actually use these devices?

1 minute read

January 30, 2002, 12:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


Dynamic instability is a mind-boggling idea to anyone born before the microprocessor era. It began with modern fighter planes that would fall out of the sky were it not for continuous feedback from sensors and constant adjustment of control surfaces. To the pilot, the plane feels like a conventional aircraft that's designed to fly stably—straight and level, once it's trimmed. But in fact, the pilot's control inputs merely tell the plane's control circuitry to bias itself in the direction the pilot wants to go. The advantage is that a dynamically unstable aircraft can react far more quickly than a stable one, because it's not overcoming inherent stability other than inertia... The potential for such a personal transportation device (PTD) is limited by our infrastructure. PTDs won't mix any more easily with cars and trucks than bicycles and scooters do today."

Thanks to Tom Collins

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 in PC Magazine

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