Dean Kamen’s two-wheeled personal transporter, the Segway (above), is to get a French rival. Researchers at the national research lab INRIA in Versailles have commissioned the Robosoft company of Biarritz to build the B2 electric vehicle. Like Kamen’s one-person machine (Âé¶¹´«Ã½, 20 January 2001, p 13) it will be electronically self-balancing, but it will carry two people standing side by side on a narrow platform. Its dual 1-kilowatt electric motors will drive it along at up to 30 kilometres per hour. But while you steer the Segway by leaning in the direction you want to go, the B2’s…
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