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It was only four years ago when Benjamin Gulak traveled to China with his father for a business trip. Like most people, when Ben saw the incredible pollution in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, created by the hordes of two-stroke scooters and bikes he was appalled – but unlike most people, he actually did something about it.
Benjamin immediately realized that electric two-wheelers would significantly improve the situation and so he put his college plans on hold and set out to create a practical non-polluting automobile. Working with an inherited set of tools from his grandfather, he built an angle-iron frame, attached wheelchair motors, batteries and gyroscopes, and what he came out with was quite brilliant. His science project appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, and he even managed to raise money from generous angel investors, and since then his project has evolved into a company known as BPG Motors.
What Ben essentially created was a unicycle – a motorbike with just one wheel – called the UNO. The UNO followed similar technologies found in Segways. However, the UNO then became the U2, which was a small compact urban commuter at low speeds resting on two parallel wheels, and then at higher speeds, the two parallel wheels would splay apart transforming it into a motorcycle. The invention was spectacular and after winning second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the UNO was awarded the Top 10 Inventions of the year by Popular Science. |
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The latest project from BPG Motors is the U3. This amazing machine has definitely revolutionized the way we look at motorbikes. The U3 now has three wheels. In Uno mode, the U3 is a unicycle that balances on a single pair of parallel wheels. At high speeds, a middle wheel rolls forward and the outer wheels shift backwards transforming the Unicycle into a proper street bike. This system allows the U3 to be stable throughout the transition. As the vehicle accelerates, the bike transforms into a three-wheeled vehicle while moving, providing the rider with a safer, more stable and familiar platform for high speed travel. The U3 model utilizes an active tilt technology in Uno mode to stabilize the bike during turns. The tilt system is a motorized mechanism for adjusting the vertical position of the traction wheels, allowing the U3 to bank to the right and to the left. This system makes turns smoother and accommodates for unevenness of the road.
BPG Motors plans to eventually commercialize the U3, however they have not released the technical specifications or the selling price of the zero-emission transforming vehicle. However it is very good to see that young people like Benjamin are taking the initiative to create outrageously clever and environmentally friendly mobility solutions. Our message to BPG Motors – Respect! |
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