Electric scooters are a familiar sight, thanks in part to companies such as Bird and Lime that make it easy to ride around town. But what if you had a scooter you could fold like a sweater and stuff into your backpack? Say hello to Poimo, a clever inflatable scooter developed at the University of Tokyo.
Right now, Poimo is just a prototype. But we’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Instead of bulky metal parts that require welding and complex assembling, Poimo is made from thermoplastic polyurethane. The result is a body that is simple to make and weighs about 5 pounds. A small, in-wheel motor gets this scooter up and running. Add all the pieces up and this scooter prototype weighs approximately 17 pounds.
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The scooter reportedly inflates in just over a minute when using a hand-operated pump. From what we see in the video, Poimo looks like a lot of fun to ride, and we imagine it could serve as an innovative solution for last-mile transportation in the city.
Folks at the University of Tokyo say there’s still room for improvement. While the body is light, the wheels and shafts of the scooter are a little too heavy for their tastes. Further investigation will go into the scooter’s crash safety, speed limit, potential price, and new ways to inflate the body.
Poimo stands for “Portable and Inflatable Mobility,” in case you were wondering how the little scooter got its name. The researchers are proposing Poimo falls under a new category of transportation called “soft mobility,” which involves the use of soft and lightweight materials that offer the flexibility of deformation. Inflatable soft mobility solutions are particularly helpful for short-distance travel, as well as situations requiring frequent deployment. In addition to the scooter, the researchers also made an inflatable wheelchair prototype.
Let’s hope we see Poimo scooters roaming city streets in the near future. Until then, enjoy the demonstration video above.
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