Hoverboard Technologies is eager to introduce The All‐New GeoBlade(TM) 500 ‐ One‐Wheeled Electric Land Surfer
Announcing the GeoBlade™ 500, an exciting alternative personal electric transport that delivers the excitement and thrill of surfing on land.
- (1888PressRelease) February 07, 2018 - MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. – Two years ago, Hoverboard Technologies revealed its “Hoverboard”, super‐high‐end, one‐ narrow‐wheeled electric skateboard, or “Land Surfer”. Market response was overwhelming, but also overwhelming was the negative reaction to the $4,000 price tag. Rather than complete and release the product as it was, Hoverboard Technologies went back to the drawing board and developed the GeoBlade™ 500. In addition to making their Land Surfing experience almost
1/3 the price (at $1,495), this was the company’s chance to deploy everything they had learned to make the product completely responsive to the market’s entire enumeration.
With an internal, die‐cast aluminum frame and an external polycarbonate shell, the GeoBlade™ 500 weighs in at only 18 pounds, 7 pounds lighter than its predecessor. A soft pneumatic tire has replaced the solid polyurethane version in the previous iteration, resulting in a much smoother ride and greater control, especially over bumps or rough terrain, and now features much more active steering and control with the tilting of the board. This innovative approach which allows for a more active tilt‐to‐turn responsiveness, has slashed the learning‐curve to the point where many people can ride it with little or no practice. This new feature allows the rider to truly experience the sensation of surfing or floating on land.
Currently the market is inundated by numerous one‐wheeled electric skateboards with very wide tires like the ones you see on a Go‐Cart. These are easier to ride for the first‐timer, but heavier and much less maneuverable than the GeoBlade™ 500. With the narrow tire, and a little extra practice, the rider can spin, cut and carve with greater ease and flexibility. In addition to greater control and maneuverability, stopping and getting off the GeoBlade™ 500 is as simple and easy as touching your toes to the ground. At this side‐angle, the GeoBlade™ 500 goes into standby‐mode which makes it easier to dismount.
Also unique to the GeoBlade™ 500, is the way it senses the rider. Other products have a button or certain area of the foot‐pad that is pressure‐sensitive. This is awkward because the rider has
to be mindful of where they place and keep their feet. The GeoBlade™ 500 actually senses the reactive pressure on the wheel itself, so the rider can stand anywhere or any‐way they want on the board and their presence will be detected without any additional sensors or special effort.
The GeoBlade™ 500 has NO Remote Control, as opposed to the other one‐wheel electric skateboards on the market. The controls and sensors are built directly into the device which allows the rider to maneuver it by simply shifting their body‐weight. Leaning forward causes the board to accelerate and leaning back makes it decelerate. Tilting the board side to side causes it to turn, just like a traditional skateboard. Controlling the board is extremely intuitive.
Based on the extensive feedback we received, the users overwhelmingly favored removable batteries, not just to facilitate repair or upgrade, but to rapidly snap‐in‐and‐out, so extras could be taken and used on longer trips. The GeoBlade™ 500 is sold with a single battery, but has the capacity to house two batteries at the same time. Additional batteries may be purchased and they are easily swappable with a single click. A single battery will allow for a range of 7 Miles and over 14 Miles with two batteries installed. Charging Time has been reduced to only 2.5 hours from zero to full‐charge with standard charger and its mag‐safe connection. Just locate the charger connector near the charge port and it will magnetically jump into place, and no damage will be done by tripping over the cord.
The GeoBlade™ 500 can travel at speeds of up to 16 mph, although riders are encouraged to gear‐up if they wish to go faster than they can easily run.
The GeoBlade™ 500 is equipped with programmable onboard lighting. Riders can use the app to connect to the board and deploy a variety of lighting effects, or just choose a singe favorite color, as well as control the level of brightness. Bluetooth speakers play music, but their real value is revealed when paired with Google Maps. Engage navigation, but specify “walking mode” and the GeoBlade™ 500 will navigate the rider, not just over streets, but through parks, public paths and walking bridges. It will automatically lower the music (when playing), announce that a turn is to be made and then restore the music to the selected volume. The rider can take the fastest route anywhere while just focusing on having fun.
Patented ground‐detecting “lidar” (Sonar, but using light) is used to keep the board parallel to the changing terrain. The deck of the GeoBlade™ 500 is kept low, for stability and optimal carving capability. Since the GeoBlade™ 500 can climb a reasonably steep hill, the limitation becomes the front of the board hitting the ground as it gets steeper, or the back dragging as the ground slopes down. The lidar sensor, located in the center of the Battery Pack, is constantly pulsing out infrared bursts of light and actually measuring the time it takes the pulses of light to return in order to deduce the distance to the ground in real‐time. Programming in the board
then sees when the GeoBlade™ 500 is approaching a hill and “tilts” the board up or down as necessary to keep it parallel to the ground. The ends are turned‐up in order for the rider to still feel comfortable and secure that their feet won’t slide off as the GeoBlade™ 500 changes pitch.
The GeoBlade™ 500 is one of the very few, if not possibly the only personal ridable that has a dedicated hardware “Coulomb Counter”, which literally counts the total amount of “charge” flowing in and out of the battery to get a nearly exact value of range remaining. Lithium Ion batteries don’t change voltage in proportion to their state of charge, so typical techniques for indicating remaining charge are notoriously inaccurate on today’s ridables. The GeoBlade™ 500, however, displays the remaining charge with great precision using an LED bar graph on the board itself and with even greater precision on the free, downloadable app.
Bottom‐line, once mastered, the GeoBlade™ 500 feels like a new and indispensable addition to one’s body. The rider just leans‐into the direction they want to go and the GeoBlade™ 500 carries them there like a silent magic carpet. The experience is truly indescribable and yet everything Robert Bigler, the inventor and founder imagined it would be, for so many years.
Riders report wanting to take their GeoBlade™ 500 everywhere and that it inspires them to re‐ explore for recreation, and even use it to commute. At $1,495, the GeoBlade™ 500 is well positioned at the high‐end of personal e‐mobility devices market as “real”, durable transportation, not just a toy one would play with. It is the optimal “last‐mile” solution with its unique range, speed, size and weight, and most of all, you don’t look like a dork riding it!
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