The Wheelie

The Wheelie is a largely open-source reproduction of a professional, uniaxial and self-balancing electric scooter that is distributed by a well-known manufacturer throughout the whole world. From the technical point of view, the Wheelie is a mechantronic transport system like its original that is able to transport a standing human being even over longer distances in a silent and environmentally friendly manner.  

With its electric drive fed by a battery the Wheelie can balance, go forward and backward as well as make right and left turns. Commands are given by the driver by way of a weight shift and a handlebar. The ability to keep the balance is due to a control algorithm with which a central microcontroller is programmed. The necessary parameters are controlled by an acceleration, gyro and steering angle sensor each and the two electric motors are controlled that way that the road performance desired sets in. Thus, you can even turn the Wheelie on the spot.

Mechanical and electronic components work together in the Wheelie, so that it can be considered to be a mechatronic mobility system.  

Like most of the technical real-world systems, the Wheelie is not quite learner-friendly: The whole control process largely constituting the operation of the Wheelie runs in an entirely untransparent and secret manner "inside" the controller in the form of software. Although the source code is openly readable, it reaches almost 800 lines and requires profound programming skills. As a result, the school students face an insurmountable obstacle with regard to the understanding of its operation.