Toyota i-REAL
Encyclopedia
The i-REAL is a 'Personal Mobility Concept' made by automotive giant Toyota that was planned to be put on sale in around 2010. It is a development of previous Toyota Personal Mobility vehicles including the i-unit
and i-Swing. As with said previous vehicles, the i-REAL is a 3-wheeled electrically powered one-passenger vehicle, running on lithium-ion batteries.
In Low-Speed Mode, the vehicle is upright, and moves around at 'walking pace' at similar eyesight height to pedestrians, without taking up a large amount of space . In High-Speed Mode, the Toyota extends in length by leaning back and extending the single rear wheel to improve aerodynamics and stability, thus being able to achieve a speed of 18.6 mph, or 30 km/h. It leans into corners, like other tall, one-man vehicles such as the Segway
, to prevent it tipping over.
There are two joysticks, one for each hand. Either joystick controls the i-Real, so left- and right-handed people will be equally at home. You push the joystick forwards to go forwards, left to go left, right to go right and pull back to stop. Perimeter-monitoring sensors detect when a collision with a person or object is imminent and alerts the driver by emitting a noise and vibrating. At the same time, it alerts people around it of its movements through use of light and sound.
The i-REAL was driven on the BBC's
motoring programme Top Gear in 2008 by Richard Hammond
. (Series 12)
Toyota i-unit
The i-unit is an ultra-compact single seater four wheeled Toyota concept car. It debuted at the World Expo 2005, held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The vehicle is a cross between a microcar, a motorcycle, and a vehicular exoskeleton...
and i-Swing. As with said previous vehicles, the i-REAL is a 3-wheeled electrically powered one-passenger vehicle, running on lithium-ion batteries.
In Low-Speed Mode, the vehicle is upright, and moves around at 'walking pace' at similar eyesight height to pedestrians, without taking up a large amount of space . In High-Speed Mode, the Toyota extends in length by leaning back and extending the single rear wheel to improve aerodynamics and stability, thus being able to achieve a speed of 18.6 mph, or 30 km/h. It leans into corners, like other tall, one-man vehicles such as the Segway
Segway PT
The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing transportation machine invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" while "PT" denotes personal transporter....
, to prevent it tipping over.
There are two joysticks, one for each hand. Either joystick controls the i-Real, so left- and right-handed people will be equally at home. You push the joystick forwards to go forwards, left to go left, right to go right and pull back to stop. Perimeter-monitoring sensors detect when a collision with a person or object is imminent and alerts the driver by emitting a noise and vibrating. At the same time, it alerts people around it of its movements through use of light and sound.
The i-REAL was driven on the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
motoring programme Top Gear in 2008 by Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
. (Series 12)
Top Gear (series 12)
The 12th series of Top Gear contained eight episodes, and premiered on 2 November 2008, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. Clarkson was injured while filming the series, after crashing a lorry through a brick wall at 56 mph in the first...
Sources
- http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/p_mobility/i-real/
- http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Toyota-i-Real-concept/
- http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/drive-slow/toyota-i+real-concept-car-309614.php