Fun with casters

Today is *almost* one of those throw-back posts where I reminisce about the awesome 80s.  Only I'm going to hone in on one specific part of that time period.

Did you ever have a Sit'n'skate?  Cause I did, and it was amazing.

via.

 Some people these days market it as the "Flying Turtle" by Wham-O.  The gist was that you sat on it, and as you moved the handles left and right, the toy started to move.  The more you oscillate the handles, the faster you go.  Very simple.  Yet very strange method of gaining momentum.  

I was trying to think through the mechanics of the motion, and found a few physics enthusiasts who like to write out models for things.  Well, this is the caster wheel principle, wherein the turning axis is in front of the wheel contact axis, causing a stability case where the wheel "wants" to follow the axis.  Think of a stroller or shopping cart.  The wheels will right themselves if they are pointed in the wrong direction.  Well, for this device, it is easier for the wheels to move forward when you turn the handles than for them to slide side-ways, which is the only other alternative given the torsion. Casters are taken advantage of in robotic systems, where casters give additional motion capability.

Also, there are new products on the market these days that take advantage of this mode of propulsion.  For example, there are these twisty skateboards called Ripstiks.  I saw a neighbor kid riding one a couple of years ago, and thought, "How can he be riding on two wheels?!"

A Ripstik. via.

Now a Plasma Carwhich is basically a sit'n'skate with a different posture.  The website says those wheels in front are just for stability, and don't really touch the ground.  So it's the same thing.  Caster wheels behind the axis of rotation.

 

Available at Amazon.com  You should watch the videos of the kids riding them there.  Pretty cool!

Have you ever thought back to a toy that you had as a kid that was so cool, and seen elements of it reinvented again and again? 

First?

Jen really hates to be the first one to a party.  It means you engage the host, or stand around waiting for the other guests, or feel embarrassed as the host scurries around making final preparations.  I hate to be the last one to the party, because I feel like I might miss something.  Most of the time we fall somewhere in the middle, as a compromise to both facets.  So what about technology?  Are you an early adopter or late adopter?  We tend to follow the same strategy as for our party-going.  You don't want to arrive to early, else the technology is still a bit infant and getting some of the kinks worked out.  The only downside to waiting is that you might miss out on some worthwhile benefits.

I didn't grow up in a family that always rushed out for the latest and greatest, but on some items, my parents were more toward the front than the back.  For example, Dad bought a computer in the mid-80s for more $$ than several of his cars added together.  Also, my mom drove a Toyota minivan only a few years after the 1984 debut of the small van concept via the Dodge Caravan and Toyota Minivan (we went with the Toyota).  I remember the torment Dad felt to get the house wired for dial-up internet (when, 1994?) and set the technology as a prize for finishing painting the exterior of the house.  Turns out he subscribed to the WorldWideWeb before we finished the house, and always the motivator, I remember asking, "But what about finishing the house painting first?"  The answer was more of a silent shrug that of course we'd finish painting the house!

Here's a look at some of the Hi-Tech things I've plunged for, an indication of timeline, and whether I consider that entry early or late.
Film Camera 8 y.o. (1989)-EARLY:  I had to have a camera for 4-H Camp!
First Car (2003)-LATE: Yeah, it wasn't much of a priority until just after we married and I was nearly 22.
Desktop Computer (2004)-MEH: The wife came with a Laptop, and otherwise I had regular access at the Library
Digital Camera (2004)-MEH: This was a splurge, and I remember feeling so great that we could take a bazillion pictures and not worry about printing them.  I also liked the ease of taking digital videos.  However, given that I had friends on my mission that were starting to do digital, we must've been a little before the peak.
Cable Subscription (2004)-LATE: Yup.  It was a "prize" expense for Jen graduating from college.  Interestingly, I think the only channel that really got a workout was HGTV, at the time.
Gmail (2004)-EARLY:  Thanks to some geek friends, I got an invite in the first few months of beta testing.
Cell Phone (2005)-LATE:  It was almost embarassing, but it was a cost that we justified upon my graduation from my undergraduate program.  Seriously, I sat in a computer lab all day with a phone, and Jen had her office with a phone, so we felt like we didn't need one for the pocket and the desk.
22" Computer Monitor (2007)-EARLY: Graduate present to myself.  At the time, 19" was the standard and 16:9 was just coming into its own.  We felt like we had crazy-huge screen real-estate!
GPS (2007)-EARLY: Move to the Northeast.  Jen thinks we were late here.  But really, why would we have needed it in Provo where everything was neatly gridded?
Quad-core PC (2008)-EARLY:  It's still awesome, and can do just about anything we throw at it.  We bought it about 6 months after the chip debuted.  (refurb!)
DVR (2008)-EARLY: Sure, I had friends in 2005 who subscribed to DVR services, but it was far from standard then.  We felt pretty swanky to have a computer with a TV-tuner. (refurb!)
Netbook (2009)-EARLY: We hopped on this bandwagon since we "needed" a second computer and wanted a laptop, and the technology was out long enough to see some great little machines (refurb!)
Kindle (2011)-EARLY-ish: Let's be honest, we have the 3rd Generation.  But until everyone has one, I'm going to claim early on this.
Minivan (2011)-LATE:  Yeah, so the car had 102K miles on it.  But we only have 2 kids, so maybe we get an early on a technicality.
IPod -what's an ipod?  We haven't owned any Apple products, cause we don't look good in white earbuds. (?)
SmartPhones -you mean you can check your email without a computer?  How futuristic!

Okay, so I'll have to admit that we aren't really early adopters for anything.  We're perhaps on the front edge of early majority for some things, but for many others, we just fall in the hump with the majority.  The only things I can remember us ever pre-ordering are Ken Jennings' book Brainiac, then again pre-ordering Maphead this year.  I guess we're just that kind of geek.  It's almost like we don't belong with our generation!  Jen claims to have been late to the Twilight series, to The Hunger Games, and I still haven't read past book four of Harry Potter.  Yeah, I guess if we are going to shine it's on our being early adopters of Jeopardy!.  I was a 14 year old eagle scout, does that count for something?