The Diwheel unveiled: The gravity-defying electric vehicle that places the driver BETWEEN two giant wheels

By Claire Bates

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

When an evil henchmen flees from Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith he hops into a futuristic wheelbike to escape.

Now this strange-looking vehicle, which places the rider between two giant wheels, has moved from science fiction to reality.

A team of students from the University of Adelaide have created their own version called the Diwheel.

The Diwheel: The driver is strapped into the bright yellow electric vehicle with a racing car harness

The gravity-defying vehicle has two large wheels that are axially aligned with an inner frame. This holds the driver who is strapped in with a racing harness. A joystick is used to turn it on the spot and drive it forwards at up to 25mph.

The bright yellow electric motor is affectionately known as Edward, which is short for Electric Diwheel With Active Rotation Damping.

The mechanical design and some of the electronics were completed in 2009 while the majority of the electronics and control systems were developed in 2010.

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The rider can either lock the inner frame to the wheel using a handbrake for a 360degrees experience known as 'gerbiling' or leave it unlocked for a smoother ride.

However, the students found the driver would rock back and forth even when the Diwheel was unlocked while starting and stopping. While this would be perfect for a fairground ride it wasn't ideal for an every-day vehicle.

On a roll: A student shows how a control system keeps the driver stable within the Diwheel

To ensure a stable ride they used mathematical equations of motion to create a computer model of the Diwheel and then used this for numerous simulations. They then built a real-life control system using the findings.

Student Jack Parsons, who worked on the project, said: 'Edward not only rocks but it's green too.

'It's fully electric, and employs regenerative braking, so energy is recovered when slowing down.'

Those dare devils who fancy seeing the road from a different perspective can even invert the inner frame and drive around upside down.

The sealed lead acid batteres give about 1hours worth of juice for 'fairly aggressive driving' including turns and spins, although it would last several times longer in the hands of a careful driver.

At present the Diwheel can only climb inclines of 12degrees so while a a trip to the shops would be possible, the driver would need to avoid any hills.

The DiWheel (right) bears a resemblance to the wheelbike featured in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (left)

7 Coolest Features of the iPhone 4

By John Hudson
From: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

At Apple's developer conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs unveiled his company's next generation smartphone, the iPhone 4. With over 100 new features, there's a lot to drool over. Here's what gadget geeks are most excited about:

• Pricing and Color Schemes Michael Bettiol at Boy Genius Report writes: "The iPhone 4 will be available in both black and white. The 16GB model will be $199 and the 32GB model will be $299. Both of these prices reflect the 2-year contract price with AT&T. Pre-orders for the US, UK, Germany, France, and Japan will commence on the 15th of June. June 24th is the big day as far as actual availability goes."

• It's Super-Thin, writes Agam Shah at PC World: "The iPhone 4 sports a new look and is the thinnest smartphone, [Jobs] said. At 9.3 millimeters (0.36 inches) thick, the new iPhone is 24 percent thinner than iPhone 3GS."

• 'You Can Bing It,' praises Miguel Helft at The New York Times: "No black eye for Google, but a win for Microsoft. Mr. Jobs announces that in addition to Google, which remains the default search engine, and Yahoo, which was already an option on the iPhone, iOS 4 will give users the option to use Bing for their searches."

• An Incredible Display Screen, notes Ed Oswald at Technologizer: "Another major feature is the 'Retina display,' Apple’s upgraded screen for the iPhone 4. The resolution comes in at 326dpi, which along with some software magic makes for clear, smooth fonts and more vivid images. Jobs said the resolution is actually higher than the human eye can see (exaggeration, perhaps?). Either way, Apple expects it to be 'years' before anybody matches this display."

• Video Chat and Camera Overhaul, details Matt Brian at The Next Web: "Steve Jobs has just announced that the iPhone 4 has been given a complete overhaul in the camera department, upgrading the 3MP camera on the 3GS to a 5MP LED flash enabled camera that has 5x digital zoom. The handset has a backside illuminated sensor, integrated so the imaging sensor can “get more light, enabling iPhone users to take better quality low-light photos. Pixel sensors have been kept larger instead of blindly increasing megapixels to improve picture clarity and quality... The iPhone 4 will be able to record full 720p HD video at 30fps with tap to focus, one-click sharing and the LED flash will stay illuminated to allow the recording of video in low-light situations. Instead of cropping videos on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 owners will be able to edit HD video using….wait for it…….iMovie for iPhone!" On top of that, there's also video chat: "You can use the front or rear camera, so people can see what you are seeing. Portrait or Landscape. The app is called FaceTime. 'Apple will ship 10s of millions of FaceTime devices this year, so there will be lots of people to talk to.'"

• Chip and Battery Overhaul, writes MG Siegler at TechCrunch: "As expected, the iPhone 4 will use Apple’s A4 chip. The device also has a bigger battery than ever before. The combination of these two things allows for 40% better battery life in some situations, Jobs said."

• The Gyroscope, writes Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo: "The new iPhone 4 has a gyroscope built-in. This means that it can track movement with a very high precision, much higher than the built-in accelerometers in the previous iPhones. It's 3-axis, so it's capable of detecting pitch, roll, and yaw. Couple with the accelerometer, you have 6-axis motion sensing."

Training wheels are soon to be a thing of the past

Gyro wheel for kids bicycles