Ackerman, Evan, et al. “Video Friday: Poimo Is a Portable Inflatable E-Bike.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 9 Oct. 2020, 20:24 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/video-friday-poimo-inflatable-ebike.
Article title:
Video Friday: Poimo Is a Portable Inflatable E-Bike
Source: ERATO Kawahara UIN Project / 川原万有情報網プロジェクト
My summary of the video:
Researchers at the University of Tokyo has developed Poimo, a user customizable inflatable electric scooter. Every parts of the scooter including wheels, flames, and steering mechanisms are inflated tubes. Users could customize their own scooters by simply scanning their desired riding posture by using a special camera, after which the interactive design system automatically creates a perfectly fitting design for that posture. The users could also manually customize their poimos by adjusting variables such as seat height, wheel size, trail offset, color, etc. When users decide to purchase their customized poimo, a box containing all the individual tube components are shipped to the user, after which the user could inflate the tubes, assemble the electronics, and start riding their poimo. Other than regular scooters, the poimo interactive design system allows for other vehicle forms such as wheelchairs (according to user's wants).
My response to the video:
Since I have always thought of scooters and bikes as sophisticated mechanical systems, it was fascinating to see how some researchers take different views by extending the idea of scooters to the next limit to resolve problems concerning conventional scooters. Although the video does not explicitly mention them, it seems to me that Poimo successfully resolves problems with conventional electric scooters such as high cost, high energy consumption (need for powerful electric motors), and limited freedom of customization. I was not able to find where to purchase Poimo, but if there is, I would be more than interested in buying one to use for going to school.