Self-balancing scooter

A self-balancing scooter or self-balancing two-wheeled board, commonly referred to as a "hoverboard", is a type of portable, rechargeable battery-powered scooter. They typically consist of two wheels arranged side-by-side, with two small platforms between the wheels, on which the rider stands. The device is controlled by the rider's feet, standing on the built-in gyroscopic, sensored pads.

In 2014, several such devices appeared in China, and by 2015, they became widely popular in the United States, following numerous celebrity appearances with the device. There is no universally accepted name for the device, as its various product names are attributable to the companies which distribute them and not their manufacturers.

Shane Chen, an American businessman who founded the company Inventist, has the earliest claim to inventing the self-balancing scooter device [swegway ]. Chen started a Kickstarter for Hovertrax, in 2013. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Chen voiced his frustrations regarding patent rights in China. He claimed that Solowheel, his self-balancing unicycle, was copied by other manufacturers after it appeared in Happy Show, a Chinese television show. In August 2015, Mark Cuban announced plans to purchase the Hovertrax patents from Chen. Also in 2015, an American company, Inventist, claimed to hold patents and announced its intent to pursue litigation.

Segway Inc. has asserted that it holds patents which give it exclusive rights to sell self-balancing scooters in the United States. One of the manufacturers, Ninebot, acquired Segway, in April 2015, to resolve the dispute. The fast pace of the Chinese manufacturing industry makes it difficult to pinpoint which Chinese company was the first to manufacture the device. According to Wired's David Pierce, the device was likely invented as the "Smart S1" by Chic Robotics, a Chinese technology company founded in 2013, and associated with Zhejiang University. The Smart S1 was released in August 2014, and found success at the 2014 Canton Fair trade show. The company patented technologies associated with the board, but due to China's lax patent enforcement, the product was copied by several Chinese manufacturers.

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Wikipedia