I never got into the whole skateboarding thing as a kid, or as an adult for that matter, but I have always thought it was a pretty good mode of transportation around town.
Thanks to Ron Green we can go one step further than the typical skateboard and motor our way around town on the RoamBoard.
“The RoamBoard carve comes from two innovations,” Green told Gizmag. “First, the steering axles protrude off the front and rear of the board, allowing the board plane to be at the axle level. Second, all the electronics are packaged above the board under a cool motorcycle-esque tank. This above board battery and electronics design is completely new to stand up power boarding. With these two innovations, all of the user’s carve push goes into the wheels, and not into tipping the board.”
Joining the electronics and responsive 36v/10 Amp-hr Li-Polymer battery pack in the tank is an onboard battery charger that offers individual cell balancing and a four-hour charge time. The battery powers a rear-mounted 450 watt DC motor controlled by a 2-inch (5 cm) nylon tethered hand controller with thumb throttle and three-level LED charge indicator. The LiquidRoam RoamBoard is said to have a range of 12 miles (19.3 km) and a top motorized speed of 15 mph (24 km/h). The integration of Drive Wheel Clutch technology, however, allows the drive system to freewheel – potentially catering for downhill coasting at higher speeds.
“With all that speed available, only the best brake would do,” says Green. “The RoamBoard has a hydraulic disc brake integrated into the design for positive controllable stopping power.”
via GizMag
The really nice thing about the RoamBoard is that it isn’t a concept. In fact folks that want to hop on early can head over the LiquidRoam site and purchase this evolution of skateboarding joy.
I will admit the price of $2,475 is a little steep for my blood but if you live in the continental US this might be right up your alley in the meantime here’s a bit of a video of the RoamBoard in action.
