Segway For Law Enforcement, Possibly Evolving Into MechWarrior Machinery

I was reading an interesting magazine and I came across a story about the Segway being utilized by Law Enforcement. The more I read about it I wondered if anyone had done a story on ATS and I went to YouTube to see if I could find any footage of it in regards to Law Enforcement aspects.

Law Enforcement on Segway


The Segway can go up to 12.5 MPH, or Miles Per Hour, and there are two models being the i2 Police and the x2 Police, the first being a slimmed down model and the second one being a beefy model that's more all-terrain. I also found this other YouTube of a four-wheeled version of the Segway but it seems an advertisement and not directed at Law Enforcement utilization, yet.

Segway : Centaur


I began thinking about these devices and what it would take for them to be safe for Law Enforcement, first that they have counter-balanced gyroscopic leveling as well as higher mobility, meaning an ease to get into small spaces unlike a bulkier squad-car. I would have to assume here that these devices are already fitted with Lo-Jack, the Police GPS device automatically installed in all Law Enforcement vehicles, so that a perpetrator does not jump on and speed away.

I do however see the same problem with them as with a motorcycle being that a dedicated, or crazy criminal would just run over the Law Enforcement Officer if they were really and truly desiring to get away, not that this is something I would want to see happen, but I did witness a motorcycle Officer get run over once and it was brutal.

Now thinking about this I began wondering just how soon a real life "MechWarrior" type suit might be viable for Law Enforcement and remembered finding this video a while back.

Landwalker


This just seems like it could potentially be around the corner for the future of Law Enforcement as well as Military equipment. I posted this in Miltary and Government Projects because it seemed to fit but if a Moderator thinks it fits elsewhere that's fine.

reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas


I didn't think anyone remembered those old games. I used to play Mech 3 and 4 with my sons. The first thing out of my 8 year olds mouth when he saw the Timberwolf - "I want one of those!". I told him to be patient.

MechWarrior is still strong in the X-Box and X-Box 360 realm. I have the special joystick that came with MechWarrior 3 but alas this newer computer doesn't support the joystick port. Another favorite of Mine was Earthsiege 2 on the computer.

Wii Fit


If you imagine with the Wii Fit commercial there the applications of the movements you are inspired to use to use this "game" in the aspect of the counter-balanced gyroscope, some of the movement seems similar to what you might use in a MechWarrior suit.

For instance, leaning side to side, might make the suit begin turning in the direction someone leans. When I find some of the other commercials I have seen which seems to be steering things that way, I will add them via the YouTube links as well.



[edit on 7-6-2008 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

If I were a cop I would not want to be caught dead riding on one of those. I would look like a fairy.

Look what kind of vehicles they have baltimore officers driving in now:
www.youtube.com...
Hey look, it's the gaymobile!

If I were a baltimore PD officer, I'd shoot myself.

Originally posted by AgentScmidt
If I were a cop I would not want to be caught dead riding on one of those. I would look like a fairy.

Look what kind of vehicles they have baltimore officers driving in now:
www.youtube.com...
Hey look, it's the gaymobile!

If I were a baltimore PD officer, I'd shoot myself.

Well, while I had to laugh hard about the "golf cart" this Police Officer had for his vehicle, I'm flabbergasted at this man's actions with this boy. I would like to see the beginning that someone obviously missed to see what else was said. I see at the very end the Police Officer asked if the camera was on and the beginning of the threat of "if I find myself on YouTube" was coming out of his mouth as the camera was shut off.

While I understand the necessity of respecting a Police Officer when talking to him, this Police Officer seemed to go ballistic for no reason, which is why I mentioned wanting to see the rest of the video that was not shared. Maybe the boy didn't learn proper manners, or doesn't use sir. He is after all a skater, and from when I was a boy, skaters hated Cops, not Me, the skaters I remember from when I was a teen.

Okay, not to de-rail My own thread, let's go back to the Segway and Law Enforcement aspects. Yes, I agree with you, you would think most Law Enforcement Officer's might not want to be seen on it. I remember when the Segway first came out, the creator was bragging how it would be in every home, blah, blah, blah. It totally fell flat on its face, the sales, not the actual Segway. Guess he's been dragging them to every major industry leader he can think of to get them sold.

There was one in Iron Man, if you saw it, as well as the F-22 Raptor being shamelessly plugged also.

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas

Originally posted by AgentScmidt
If I were a cop I would not want to be caught dead riding on one of those. I would look like a fairy.

Look what kind of vehicles they have baltimore officers driving in now:
www.youtube.com...
Hey look, it's the gaymobile!

If I were a baltimore PD officer, I'd shoot myself.

Well, while I had to laugh hard about the "golf cart" this Police Officer had for his vehicle, I'm flabbergasted at this man's actions with this boy. I would like to see the beginning that someone obviously missed to see what else was said. I see at the very end the Police Officer asked if the camera was on and the beginning of the threat of "if I find myself on YouTube" was coming out of his mouth as the camera was shut off.

While I understand the necessity of respecting a Police Officer when talking to him, this Police Officer seemed to go ballistic for no reason, which is why I mentioned wanting to see the rest of the video that was not shared. Maybe the boy didn't learn proper manners, or doesn't use sir. He is after all a skater, and from when I was a boy, skaters hated Cops, not Me, the skaters I remember from when I was a teen.

Okay, not to de-rail My own thread, let's go back to the Segway and Law Enforcement aspects. Yes, I agree with you, you would think most Law Enforcement Officer's might not want to be seen on it. I remember when the Segway first came out, the creator was bragging how it would be in every home, blah, blah, blah. It totally fell flat on its face, the sales, not the actual Segway. Guess he's been dragging them to every major industry leader he can think of to get them sold.

There was one in Iron Man, if you saw it, as well as the F-22 Raptor being shamelessly plugged also.

Lol the cop was hilarious. Did you catch the part when he asked the kid "are you with the county or something?" LOL WTF classic. Because we all know kids work for the county. (the cop thought he was being set up by the kid/county or something to get him fired)

Also there's another video on youtube of the SAME cop. Some guy was using a RC toy car in the middle of a park or something, he had a cardboard box over it, and was pranking people for fun by running the cardboard box around people. The SAME cop shows up to the scene and starts telling the guy to quit it, then the guy for laughs runs the cardboard box into the cop's foot, and then the cop picks it up and smashes it on the ground and goes nuts.

You can't make this stuff up, but it's real. The cop was fired IIRC.

reply to post by AgentScmidt


Yeah, I saw the other video as well. If he got fired, that's a good thing. He definately needed Anger Management classes, at least. I noticed on the other video that they mentioned that the City officials mentioned they had not seen the YouTube video. That's not a segway, pardon the pun, into regulating and censoring YouTube now is it?

Okay, this is not a Cop-Hater thread, so if you've got more to contribute to the thread in regards to Segway, or MechWarrior type suits with Law Enforcement in regards to future applications, please add them.

If not, move along now, before I ask if your with County.

[edit on 7-6-2008 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

Since you mention Iron Man, I would have to guess that this will be the next step in the evolution of armor, and long before Mech type war machines are developed. I saw a mock up of a personal body armor suit on the military channel a year or so ago that was remarkably similar to the Iron Man thing. Scary stuff, if you ask me. In the wrong hands, we would be toast. Man is a barbarian, ya know....

When I lived in Massachusetts, there were already a few municipal departments and a few colleges using them. I never spoke to anyone who rode one on duty but I guess they were effective in a limited capacity.

Hah! I live in a town in western NC (population maybe 30,000 or so), and the cop we call the "Meter-Nazi" rides a Segway! Its hilarious, she wears a bicycle helmet while riding it. I'll have to bring my camera downtown soon and get a picture. Apparently our PD has nothing better to blow money on since they got new cars last year. Andy

[edit on 7-6-2008 by drumist69]

Okay, so what do ATS'ers think about the possibility of the Segway being later adapted, or being the "parent concept" behind a MechWarrior type suit. Think of it this way, if you get someone used to standing up, moving with a gyroscope device in order to stabilize yourself, essentially training to move while at the same time all the technical details as well as constant running statistics that are "field tests" towards what needs to be used for implementation of the change into a later design.

Nice to see I'm not the only person who see the potential for Mechs.

This is a viable platform is people know how to spot the initial parts of the system.

I know how to see the potential for a shift from one type of device to another.

damm - i want a segway centaur - screw walking - that is way awesome

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
damm - i want a segway centaur - screw walking - that is way awesome

When I look at technology like this I see the potential for a change to a weapons platform.

When I saw aircraft carriers I saw their potential for intergalactic carriers.

I know how to spot the potential for technology, where it might lead to, and ultimately what it's end product will be or at least what it can be adapted to.

It is interesting to say the least, but to me, the technology is too new to invest by buying one.