The Thrustcyle may be an idea whose time has finally come, given its green technology-powered, gyroscopically stabilized ability to get folks around.
The Thrustcycle carries forward the concept of a gyro-car that dates back to 1914, if not earlier.
Still in the prototype stage, the vehicle is two-wheeled, but comparing it with a motorcycle might give the wrong impression.
It runs on an electric motor and gyroscopes that stabilize the vehicle, and its gyroscope-flywheel combination regenerates energy that recharges its batteries and boosts its propulsion system.
Videos online show the Thrustcycle’s stability as it stands upright despite sharp blows from each side attempting to knock it over.
The Thrustcycle is less likely to lose traction than a motorcycle, as its gyroscopes maintain what the designer calls its "lateral integrity."
It has received national attention.
"We see a lot more potential besides the one-passenger prototype," said Clyde Igarashi, Thrustcycle Enterprises LLC founder. Three- and four-wheeled prototypes that can transport more than one person are in the offing, and the company is receiving inquiries about high-speed watercraft and hovercraft, he said.
Igarashi is a graduate of Waiakea High School in Hilo, has an MBA from New York University, and was working as a stockbroker, but also was "looking for something more meaningful to do," he said.
He got involved in a project trying to make a more efficient battery, a sort of green battery. In the process, he met his current business partner, David Ryker.
In 1993 Ryker created the Gyro Hawk, which is still the fastest gyro-stabilized land vehicle, Igarashi said.
Ryker’s mentor "was a premier rocket scientist," Igarashi said, "but we’re just trying to improve on that and make it practical, on the consumer level."
Thrustcycle is working on licensing deals with manufacturers who can build and market the vehicles.
"We focus on the technology and would like others to take it from there," he said.
Meanwhile, Igarashi and Ryker are working on restoring the famed Gyro-X, designed by Alex Tremulis and built by the company Troutman and Barnes. Its gyroscopic system was developed by Thomas Summers, who received a U.S. patent for it in September 1969. The car was featured on the September 1967 edition of Science and Mechanics (before the publication split into Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines).
The restored Gyro-X will be displayed at the Lane Motor Museum in Tennessee, in commemoration of Tremulis’ 100th birthday in 2014.
"The Gyro-X uses hydraulic controls and a gyroscopic system that is quite different from what we’re building today for our other vehicles," Ryker, Thrustcycle chief technical director, said in a statement.
"Hydraulics present certain challenges for us, while also allowing us to do some things better than with pure electrics. There is definitely a place for hydraulics in energy recapture for certain types of vehicles," he said.
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On the Net:
» www.thrustcycle.com
