The current Boosted Boards serve their purpose well as electric longboards, but this article is what I personally would like to see in the future. Personality mobility devices vary quite a bit, but only a fraction of them are on the market.
Segways cost several thousand dollars, Hyundai made a nice little personal mobility device you can sit in called the E4U, but I can’t imagine that type of device being affordable either.
A variety of personal mobility device designs provides people with choices, and the Boosted Boards are a great addition to those choices at $1,000, but I have an idea for a Boosted Boards product. I would recommend selling this in addition to the current design as an enhanced version, as this will cost more than the current design.
A Boosted Board With Bigger Wheels
Bigger wheels may not sound significant at first, but wheel size is of paramount importance to functionality. This is why you can’t ride skateboards over stones, or go rock climbing with ordinary cars. All vehicles serve their purpose.
Bigger wheels enable riders to travel over rougher surfaces, which is why a Boosted Board with wheels that are 3 times the diameter of the current design would enable people to ride them in more places (and more comfortably), such as highly textured/bumpy surfaces made of small stones, and more easily on soil.
The tapered tips of the board not only enable you to see the wheels and any obstructions you may have encountered, but they also provide the space required to implement wheels which are 2-3 times larger.
Drawbacks
- This design is heavier due to larger wheels. The beauty of Boosted Boards is their portability. If you can’t get over a rocky area in a Boosted Board, you can simply pick up the lightweight board, walk over the obstacle, and hop back onto the board. Normally, you can’t do that with personal mobility devices. The larger wheels wouldn’t add too much weight, though, so you could still pick it up as you please.
- This design is likely to cost more due to the fact that larger wheels tend to cost more money.
- If this design creates the need for additional gears, this device could become significantly more expensive than the current Boosted Board designs.
Why Not Simply Sell Larger Wheels As An Accessory For Boosted Boards?
Increasing wheel size increases torque requirements from the motor, so a different motor(s) or gear ratio (if gears are used in the current boards) would be required to increase the propulsion system’s torque output without overheating the motor(s).
Two Bonus Features I Would Love
- A backpack designed for the Boosted Board. This would make it the perfect personal mobility device. This would also enable people to carry a second Boosted Board on their backs for added range of they want to go on longer trips. They could just swap boards and be on their way.
- A detachable on-board charger.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOl75MbMiYw’]
Video Credit: tehblahman on YouTube.
