Youtuber builds balancing bike with hoverboard technology and 3D printing

In a new YouTube video, British inventor James Bruton shows how he built a balancing bicycle using technology from a hoverboard. Extensive 3D printing was also used in the process.

According to Bruton, the drive and control electronics were removed from a commercial hoverboard and integrated into a bicycle. The individual hoverboard wheels were mounted to the bike in such a way that the speed was identical to a free-rolling hoverboard. This meant that the balancing electronics could be adopted unchanged.

A special challenge was to make the bicycle also move sideways. To accomplish this, Bruton used 3D printing to develop a dual-axis steering system that allows sideways tilt in addition to the standard steering motion. In the process, the parts for the special steering device were designed entirely in-house and manufactured on multiple 3D printers in parallel production.

According to Bruton, 3D printing was essential to produce the required parts in a short time and with the necessary precision. In particular, he says, the integration of ball bearings and other standardized components was greatly simplified by the flexibility of 3D printing.

The lateral tilt of the handlebars is realized via servo motors and a tricky suspension of the hoverboard electronics. It mimics the foot movement when steering the original hoverboard.

According to Bruton, the project is not yet complete. Next, he plans to equip the bike with jet engines to enable forward travel. The YouTube video shows in detail the construction of the steering and the integration of the hoverboard components.