These hoverboards look sketchy.

[mazzic518]

Been watching a few teardown videos of these things and they just do not look like something I would trust

https://youtu.be/roDvuVbI--k?t=13m14s

[mtdoc]

Yep.

[v8dave]

From what I can see, it's kind of useless on anything but a smooth floor. Not much use for outside. My house isn't big enough to need one to get around

[coppice]

What aspect of trust bothers you? Sudden failure? Suddenly going into some wild behaviour? Before I tried one they appeared like something fraught with possible ways to do bad things. Having played with one I only see one potential really nasty thing which could happen....

The ones I have tried are very easy to get started with, unless you behave in a very cavalier manner. You need to get used to wiggling your foot in the right way, to get the response you need from the machine. That took me about 5 minutes of working with one foot on the machine, and having it move in fairly wild (although not very dangerous) ways. Once I had that skill sorted out, putting the other foot on the machine and balancing there was trivial. I don't see much potential for any serious injuries during this learning stage, as long as you show reasonable caution.

My next issue was what could happen in the event of a massive power failure, while you are travelling at speed. If you ignore the low battery warnings you do actually get to the point where the power is suddenly cut. However, the machine's maximum speed is such that you can step off under such abrupt circumstances, and slow yourself to a halt over a few paces. Again, it seems hard to get yourself into serious trouble if you are moderately cautious.

My next issue was what could happen if the control systems go wild. This is the one area where I suspect you could get into serious trouble. When you want to spin in a circle, these machines can do so quite fast. If that happened due to a failure, rather than under your control, I suspect you would have a fairly powerful machine thrashing at your feet, with real difficulty getting yourself clear of it. That possibility does concern me.

[coppice]

From what I can see, it's kind of useless on anything but a smooth floor. Not much use for outside. My house isn't big enough to need one to get around

They are surprisingly powerful. They works very well on most road surfaces, without too much shaking. They will climb surprisingly steep slopes, even with my 100 kilos on them.

[mazzic518]

What aspect of trust bothers you? Sudden failure? Suddenly going into some wild behaviour? Before I tried one they appeared like something fraught with possible ways to do bad things. Having played with one I only see one potential really nasty thing which could happen....

The no-name brand who knows what kind of quality control from China construction is what worries me.

[coppice]

What aspect of trust bothers you? Sudden failure? Suddenly going into some wild behaviour? Before I tried one they appeared like something fraught with possible ways to do bad things. Having played with one I only see one potential really nasty thing which could happen....

The no-name brand who knows what kind of quality control from China construction is what worries me.

You should only worrying if the consequences of failure are disastrous. If they are, you should worry about getting one from any source, as nothing is 100% reliable.

[ataradov]

Regardless of how they work, you look like a complete dork riding it. It is Segway all over again.

[mtdoc]

There was an interesting segment on Planet Money discussing these and how no one is exactly sure who designed the first one.  They even interview Bunny Huang.

[coppice]

Regardless of how they work, you look like a complete dork riding it. It is Segway all over again.

The original Segway was so expensive it only made sense if it was a serious mode of transport. The police at Shanghai Airport may have seen them as such, but few others did. I think anyone trying to use one of these low cost things as their daily ride would look decidedly odd, too. However, these are $200 toys to have fun with, and they are a lot of fun to play with for a couple of hours. The kids around our way love them, although it only seems to take a few hours for the novelty value to wear off.

[miguelvp]

There was an interesting segment on Planet Money discussing these and how no one is exactly sure who designed the first one.  They even interview Bunny Huang.

At least Planet Money has an episode 666 

Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life

[mtdoc]

There was an interesting segment on Planet Money discussing these and how no one is exactly sure who designed the first one.  They even interview Bunny Huang.

At least Planet Money has an episode 666 

Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life

Ha Ha.  Ya Dave chickened out. He must be a closet believer...    (I kid Dave, I kid....)

[miguelvp]

There was an interesting segment on Planet Money discussing these and how no one is exactly sure who designed the first one.  They even interview Bunny Huang.

At least Planet Money has an episode 666 

Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life

Ha Ha.  Ya Dave chickened out. He must be a closet believer...    (I kid Dave, I kid....)

Of course I was kidding too, because we both know the reason.

Actually someone blabbed about it, not that it matters because there were 0.66% chances that it was going to be made.

[Gyro]

Trading Standards dept are jumping all over them in the UK, the cheap Chinese imports are causing house fires 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34975178

It's also illegal to use them on public roads, pavements and public areas here, so restricted to private land... Still popular with kids though.

[amyk]

Since when does a "hoverboard" have wheels and never actually leave the ground? A Segway is not a hoverboard, and neither is this.

[SL4P]

I had a look at the tear-down video - and one thing stood out immediately.
No mechanical support for the larger through-hole components.

Assuming you 'toss it around a bit', or drive on footpaths and the consequential vibrations - it wouldn't take long for a random solder joint to start having problems.  Which fault - depends on which solder joint.

These factories are certainly getting better - now just a bit more product & quality design - they'll have the game sown up.

[MagicSmoker]

You kids of today don't even know the meaning of sketchy consumer products. When I was a kid Lawn Darts were all the craze:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31176/how-one-dad-got-lawn-darts-banned

Imagine being able to buy gravity bomb shaped missiles that you intentionally lob at each other in your backyard! Those were halcyon days, I tell ya...

[Fungus]

Since when does a "hoverboard" have wheels and never actually leave the ground? A Segway is not a hoverboard, and neither is this.

I bet you're fun at parties.

[Dataforensics]

It's also illegal to use them on public roads, pavements and public areas here, so restricted to private land... Still popular with kids though.

People around my way do not seem to worry about illegal use, but then again we are lucky to see Police more than once every couple of weeks.

[Gyro]

Maybe (edit: hopefully) they'll be tightening up soon. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35068900

[Stray Electron]

Trading Standards dept are jumping all over them in the UK, the cheap Chinese imports are causing house fires 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34975178

It's also illegal to use them on public roads, pavements and public areas here, so restricted to private land... Still popular with kids though.

   Several major news networks here in the US did a segment about these last night.  They also showed a video of one that burst into flames and spewed fire like a Fourth of July fireworks and also several pictures of house fires that had been started by them. These and a lot of the other poorly made junk from China needs to be banned. The US hasn't allowed the production or sale of such poorly made US manufactured electrical items such as these for a very long time but there is no testing or regulation of imported Chinese made items.

[SeanB]

Not $200 here, more like $500 instead. Not going to buy one at that price, though I will see if I can snipe some returns if they are cheap enough, just to take apart. I figure I am getting old, no longer as able to heal from injuries as I once was. Was looking at Makro today at the salespeople from TEVO flying around on them, though he did admit he fell off a few times when he first started.

[mikeselectricstuff]

When I was in Shenzen these things were everywhere - there were even a couple of shops selling nothing else - I think there will be a lot of them around after Christmas!
Scary amount of power available under fault conditions in the battery pack.

[rdl]

What kind of marketing crap is this? Nothing is hovering! Jeez, I should start selling my time machine.

[chicken]

  These and a lot of the other poorly made junk from China needs to be banned. The US hasn't allowed the production or sale of such poorly made US manufactured electrical items such as these for a very long time but there is no testing or regulation of imported Chinese made items.

Be careful what you ask for:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/ucurrent-shipment-issues-to-european-countries/