Segway

The Segway is a discontinued two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen. It reached the market in 2001 as the Segway HT, short for human transporter, and later as the Segway PT, for personal transporter. The machine grew out of the self-balancing iBOT wheelchair, which was developed at the University of Plymouth together with BAE Systems and Sumitomo Precision Products, and the first patent for a human transporter was filed in 1994 and granted in 1997. The device was unveiled on 3 December 2001 after months of public speculation about its importance. In August 2006 Segway Inc. discontinued its earlier models and introduced the i2 and x2, which were steered by leaning the handlebars. Ninebot, a Beijing-based rival, acquired Segway Inc. in April 2015, and in June 2020 it was announced that the Segway PT would no longer be manufactured.