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A monowheel, or uniwheel, is a one-wheeled
single-track vehicle
A single-track vehicle is a vehicle that leaves a single ground track as it moves forward. Single-track vehicles usually have little or no lateral stability when stationary but develop it when moving forward or controlled. In the case of wheeled v ...
similar to a
unicycle
A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...
.
Hand-cranked and pedal-powered monowheels were patented and built in the late 19th century; most built in the 20th and 21st century have been motorized. Some modern builders refer to these vehicles as monocycles, though that term is also sometimes used to describe motorized unicycles.
The world speed record for a motorized monowheel is 98.464 km/h (61.18 mph).
Stability
Similar to bicycles, monowheels are stable in the direction of travel, but have limited horizontal stability. This is in contrast to unicycles which are unstable in both directions.
Monowheels have also been found to have a lower speed required for stability when compared to unicycles.
A monowheel remains upright due to gyroscopic effects, but its lack of stability makes it highly dependent on forward momentum and the balance of the rider, who must maintain stability while steering. Over the history of the monowheel, various stability enhancements have been tried such as support struts (Green & Dyer, 1869), skids and propellers (D'Harlingue Propeller-Driven Monowheel, 1914), as well as gyroscopes, fins, and rudders (The McLean V8 Monowheel, 2003).
Many riders choose to control stability when at a stop by putting their feet on the ground, similar to bicycles and
motorcycles
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
.
Variants and related vehicles
There have been many proposals for variants or uses, such as a horse-drawn monowheel
[ or a monowheel ]tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
.
An electric monowheel called Dynasphere was tested in 1932 in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
In 1971, an American inventor named Kerry McLean built his first monocycle (aka monowheel). In 2000, he built a larger version, the McLean Rocket Roadster powered by a Buick V-8 engine, which subsequently crashed in 2001 during the initial test run. McLean survived and proceeded to build over 25 different variations of his version of the monocycle, from pedal powered models, 5HP models, all the way up to V8 powered models. In 2010, Nokia used two of McLean's monocycles in their commercials promoting the new Nokia SatNav smartphone.
One variant called a RIOT wheel
A RIOT wheel is a one-wheeled vehicle, or monowheel. Housing a motor and counterweight inside a giant wheel, the driver sits on a platform that extends out in front of the device. This is in contrast to the typical monowheels and their long history ...
was presented at Burning Man in 2003. It involves the passengers sitting in front of the wheel and being balanced by a heavy counterweight inside the wheel. Rather than the typical ring drive, this vehicle is powered through a sprocket
A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel with teeth that mesh with a roller chain, chain, Caterpillar track, track or other perforated or indented material. The name 'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which radial ...
attached to the spokes.
A company in the Netherlands began taking custom orders for a monocycle variant called the Wheelsurf in 2007.
A related vehicle is the diwheel or the dicycle
A dicycle () (also known as a diwheel) is a vehicle with two parallel wheels, side by side, unlike single-track vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles, which have two wheels inline. Originally used to refer to devices with large wheels and peda ...
, in which the rider is suspended between or inside of a pair of large wheels placed side by side. An example of this would be the character Axel from the Twisted Metal
''Twisted Metal'' is a series of vehicular combat video games published by Sony Computer Entertainment, and developed by various companies. The series has appeared on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. As o ...
series of video games published by Sony.
See also
* Cyr wheel
The Cyr wheel (also known as the roue Cyr, mono wheel, or simple wheel) is an acrobatic apparatus that consists of a single large ring made of aluminum or steel with a diameter approximately taller than the performer. The performer stands insid ...
* Dynasphere (vehicle)
The Dynasphere (sometimes misspelled Dynosphere) was a monowheel vehicle design patented in 1930 by John Archibald Purves FRSE (7 August 1870 – 4 November 1952) from Taunton, Somerset, UK. Purves' idea for the vehicle was inspired by a s ...
* Hubless wheel
A centreless wheel is a wheel that lacks a centre or hub, instead being supported and driven at the rim.
Design
Centreless wheels are toroidal in shape and have one or multiple bearings along the rim. Propulsion can be achieved in diffe ...
* Kugelpanzer
The ''Kugelpanzer'' ("ball tank") is a one-man armoured vehicle built by Nazi Germany during World War II. The history of the vehicle is practically unknown other than the fact that at least one example was exported to the Empire of Japan and ...
– monowheel tank
* Monowheel tractor
A monowheel tractor or monowheel-drive tractor is a light transport and agricultural vehicle that is driven and controlled by an engine and steering mechanism mounted on a single large wheel, with the load-carrying body trailing behind. Despite th ...
* Onewheel
Onewheel is a self-balancing single wheel electric board-sport, recreational personal transporter, often described as an electric skateboard. Unlike the electric unicycle, the rider's feet (and body) are typically pointed at a perpendicular angle ...
* Outline of cycling
:''This article is an outline about the activity of cycling. For an outline about bicycles themselves, see outline of bicycles.''
:The following ''outline'' is provided as an overview of, as well as a topical guide to cycling:
Cycling, al ...
* Self-balancing unicycle
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the unit side to ...
* Unicycle
A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...
* Uno (dicycle)
The Uno is a novel self-balancing electric motorcycle using two wheels side by side (the configuration used by dicycles). The Uno III adds a third wheel that allows it to transform into a tricycle.
Description
The original Uno is controlled in ...
References
External links
Video of Guinness world speed record
Monovelo, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Monowheel
*"Speedy New Motor-Hoop Amazes Italians", ''Popular Science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
'', December 1924, page 40
scanned by Google Books
*"Amazing New Motor-Driven Hoop May Be Car of the Future", ''Popular Science'', May 1932, front cover and page 63
scanned by Google Books
*"War Tank on One Wheel, Operated by One Man", ''Popular Science'', November 1933, front cover and page 47
scanned by Google Books
Cycle World: Circle Cycle
Impact Lab: History of the World’s Craziest Invention - The Monowheel
{{Human-powered vehicles
Cycle types