Segway i, Segway XT, Segway GT, p Series Series Manual

Segway®HT
riders’ guide

>i Series
>p Series
>Segway XT
>Segway GT

before you ride, study this guide.

®

© 2005 Segway LLC

how to ride the Segway Human Transporter (HT) safely.

WARNING!

3

the Segway HT riders’ guide

the Segway HT riders’ guide

The Segway HT is unlike anything you have ever experienced. To ride it safely you must read the Riders' Guide for your Segway HT
model and watch the Safety Video. If you don’t have the Safety Video, contact an Authorized Segway Dealer. For a list of Dealers, visit
www.segway.com. Use this guide for the following Segway HT models: i Series, p Series, Segway Cross-Terrain Transporter (XT),
and Segway Golf Transporter (GT). For other Segway HT models, contact Segway or an Authorized Segway Dealer to obtain user
materials. Check the website for updates to Segway HT user materials: www.segway.com.

RISK OF DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY

Whenever you ride the Segway HT, you risk death or serious injury from loss of control, collisions, and
falls. To reduce risk of injury, you must read and follow all instructions and warnings in the Riders’ Guide
for your Segway HT model and you must watch the Safety Video.

Watch the Safety Video

This Riders' Guide is designed to be used in conjunction with the Safety Video. There is unique information in both
the Riders' Guide and the Safety Video. Please use both!

Segway LLC Contact Information

Segway Customer Operations: 1-866-4SEGWAY (1-866-473-4929). Fax: [phone].
Email: [e-mail]. Website: www.segway.com.

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the risk of injury

the risk of injury

The Segway HT is a self-balancing human transporter that uses patented balancing technology. Balancing
technology cannot prevent injury if you do not ride the Segway HT safely. Whenever you ride the Segway HT, you risk
injury from loss of control, collisions, and falls. It is your responsibility to learn how to safely ride the Segway HT in
order to reduce this risk. This Riders' Guide and the Safety Video are designed to help you learn.

learning to ride the Segway HT

Segway wants you to be safe and enjoy learning how to ride your Segway HT.
Think about how you learned to ride a bike, drive a car, ski, or do just about anything else involving transportation.

You probably had somebody help you learn. You started in a safe location. You started slowly. All these techniques
apply to the Segway HT.

If you carefully follow all the instructions and warnings in this Riders' Guide and the Safety Video, you should be able
to teach yourself how to ride the Segway HT, but you must be careful. If you try to teach yourself without reading this
guide and watching the video, you are at much greater risk of injury. Please don't take that risk.

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Segway HT models

Segway HT models

This guide provides instructions on how to ride the i Series, p Series, Segway XT and Segway GT models. Please
refer to the Reference Manual for model descriptions and specifications.

i Series

p Series Segway XT Segway GT

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how the Segway HT balances

how the Segway HT balances... and how it can fall

The Segway HT’s sensors detect whether the Segway HT and rider are leaning forward or backward. The Segway HT
then immediately instructs its Wheels to roll forward or backward as necessary to stay upright. When you ride the
Segway HT, you gently lean forward to make it go forward, you center your weight over the Wheels to remain
stationary, and you gently lean backward to make it go backward. With practice, you will easily learn how to move
forward and backward, turn and stop. Whenever riding, avoid abrupt maneuvers. Fast starts, fast stops, and fast
turns are dangerous and can lead to loss of control, collisions, and falls.

Even with its balancing ability, the Segway HT, just like a person, can slip, trip, and tip over. To reduce risk of injury,
you must avoid slips, trips, and tips.

As described in this guide and the Safety Video, all Segway HT riders should first learn to ride, and practice riding, in
an area with a level, smooth riding surface with good traction, without obstructions. This applies to Segway XT and
Segway GT riders, too. Even though both models have Tires that provide increased traction, the rider must still learn
to ride as described in this guide and the Safety Video, and learn how to avoid slips, trips, and tips. All Segway HT
riders should only gradually move onto more varied or rugged terrain as their riding skills improve with practice.

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how the Segway HT balances

slips

Loss of traction leads to falls.

The Segway HT Tires must grip the ground for the
machine to stay upright!

Avoid slippery surfaces.

A person slips when stepping on ice or other slippery
surfaces because the person loses traction—the
person’s shoe does not grip the surface. The
Segway HT can slip in the same way. If a Tire loses
traction, then the Segway HT cannot move to stay
upright and the rider could fall. To be safe, you must
avoid slippery surfaces, such as snow, ice, wet floors,
wet grass, or any other surface that you might slip on if
you were running. Also, remember that wet, soapy, and
oily Tires can lose traction and slip on any surface, so
use extreme caution.

Avoid loose objects and materials.

A person can also slip by stepping on a branch, cord, or
other object that rolls under foot or by stepping on
loose materials like small stones. The Segway HT can
slip in the same way. To be safe, you must avoid riding
over loose objects or materials.

Avoid steep slopes.

A person is more likely to slip walking up or down a
steep slope because he needs more traction. In the
same way, if you ride your Segway HT up or down a
steep slope, you are more likely to lose traction and fall.
To be safe, you should avoid riding up or down steep
slopes.

trips

Avoid holes, curbs, steps, and other obstacles.

If a Wheel can’t move, the Segway HT is in danger of
losing balance.

A person trips when she unexpectedly hits an obstacle
with her foot or steps into a hole or off a curb. The
person leans forward, expecting to take a normal
stride, but the obstacle, hole, or curb prevents her leg
from moving as expected, and she trips. The
Segway HT can trip in the same way. If a Segway HT
Wheel runs into an obstacle, wall, hole, or off a curb or
step, the Segway HT might not be able to move as
necessary to stay upright, and the Segway HT and rider
could fall. To be safe, you must avoid riding into holes,
walls, other obstacles, or into or off curbs or steps.

Also, you must avoid riding over any surface where the
bottom of the Segway HT may strike any object.

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how the Segway HT balances

Be careful on terrain changes.

You must be very careful when riding over any terrain
change (such as from pavement to grass, or over a
threshold or speed bump). Every terrain change is a
potential obstacle.

Maintain Tire contact with the ground.

Both Tires must be in contact with the ground for the
Segway HT to have traction. You must be very careful
when riding on uneven terrain to make sure that both
Tires remain in contact with the ground. If a Tire leaves
the ground, that Wheel loses traction and you could
fall.

tips

The Segway HT balances front to back but not side-to­side!

A “tip” is falling over sideways. People usually don’t tip
because they lean to the side to maintain balance.
Think of walking across a hill. You lean uphill to
maintain balance. Or think about running fast around a
corner. You lean into the turn. If you did not lean uphill
or into the turn, you could lose balance, tip, and fall.

Lean into turns and lean uphill.

When riding a Segway HT, you must lean in the same
way. The rider is responsible for maintaining side-to­side balance by leaning uphill when riding across
slopes (or whenever one Wheel is higher than the
other) and by leaning into turns. If the rider fails to
actively maintain this side-to-side balance, the
Segway HT will tip sideways and the Segway HT and
rider could fall. This is why you must always lean into
turns, avoid riding across steep slopes, and lean uphill
when riding across any slope.

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Segway HT safety features

Segway HT safety features... recognize and respond

speed limiter

If the Segway HT pushes the Handlebar back, slow
down!

Recognize: The Segway HT will push its Handlebar
back to slow the rider down. The speed at which the
Segway HT pushes the Handlebar back depends on a
variety of factors, including riding style, terrain,
payload, the Key used to start the Segway HT, Battery
Pack condition, and other factors (see the Reference
Manual). When you approach the maximum allowed
speed based on these factors, the Segway HT will push
the Handlebar back to slow you down. This is called
Speed Limiter.

Respond: If you feel the Speed Limiter push the
Handlebar back, stop leaning forward and slow down.

You should always leave a gap between yourself and the
Handlebar. Riding against the Handlebar can cause
loss of control, collisions, falls and injury.

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Segway HT safety features

stick shake warning when riding

If you feel the Segway HT shake and hear growling
noises, slow down. If the shaking and growling noise
persist, come to a controlled stop and safely step off.

Recognize: One of the ways that the Segway HT notifies
you that you are at risk of falling is by shaking the
Handlebar and making growling noises. This is called
Stick Shake Warning. The Stick Shake Warning will
occur if you ride backward too fast or if you demand too
much power from the Segway HT, such as by riding on
a steep slope, on rough terrain, against an obstacle, or
by accelerating or decelerating abruptly.

Stick Shake Warning is more likely to occur when your
Battery Packs are low, cold, heavily used, or poorly
maintained.

See the Reference Manual for additional information
about the Stick Shake Warning, and how it can occur in
certain non-riding situations.

Respond: If you feel the Stick Shake Warning while
riding, slow down. If the Stick Shake Warning persists,
come to a stop and safely step off.

11

Segway HT safety features

safety shutdown

If you feel the Segway HT slow down and shake its
Handlebar, hear growling and beeping noises, and see
the Display flash red, you should come to a stop and
step off.

Recognize: If the Segway HT detects a fault in any of its
redundant subsystems (see the Reference Manual for a
list), the Segway HT notifies you by automatically
reducing its speed, shaking its Handlebar, making
growling and beeping noises, and flashing red in the
Display. This is called a Safety Shutdown.

Respond: You have approximately 10 seconds from the
start of Safety Shutdown to come to a controlled stop
and safely step off. After approximately 10 seconds, the
Segway HT will stop balancing and you must have both
feet off the Segway HT.

During a Safety Shutdown, the Segway HT may stop
balancing and shut down immediately if you tilt it backward
too steeply, and you are stopped or moving slowly.

Any time you encounter a Safety Shutdown, you should
be prepared to step off as soon as you come to a stop.
Watch the Safety Video and familiarize yourself with the
sound and motion of a Safety Shutdown.

Empty Battery Condition

The Segway HT will notify you of a pending empty
battery condition prior to initiating Safety Shutdown.

A red unhappy face icon will appear in the Display, the
Segway HT’s speed will be limited, and the Segway HT
will beep. In some cases, old, cold, heavily used, or
poorly maintained Battery Packs may develop a high
resistance condition, which could cause the Display to
show the pending empty battery condition even though
the Battery Packs were recently charged. Whenever
you see the pending empty battery condition icon in the
Display, you should come to a controlled stop and
safely step off of the Segway HT prior to
commencement of the Safety Shutdown.

This icon will be shown in the Display:

Never restart and ride your Segway HT after it has
indicated an empty battery condition or performed
Safety Shutdown due to low battery. The Segway HT
may not have enough power to keep you balanced,
especially if you demand a lot of power at once. If you
restart and continue riding, you risk falling. Also, you
risk damaging your Battery Packs, resulting in reduced
Battery Pack life and capacity. Fully recharge your
Battery Packs within the recommended charging
temperature range prior to riding. If the condition
persists, contact an Authorized Segway Dealer.

See the Reference Manual for information about the
battery charge level indicator that appears in the
Display.