Re-purposed Bird Scooters

[SmileDocHill]

Very good points all.

One not mentioned is that it could be money well spent to have a working understanding of these contraptions.
Besides the battery component, what could be powered by the intact drive train of one of these? Grinding wheel, drill press, band saw, blender, etc?

For scooter's intended use, being able to eliminate the learning curve in SHTF could be important. 20 miles is twenty miles not on foot, maybe quickly out of the urban hell you are in the middle of?

Can you operate these at speed one handed, with gun in other?
How many of these can you carry, while riding one?
Would eyepro and gloves be a decent consideration? Maybe a head/face cover of some sort?

https://www.indystar.com/story/news...tal-costs-hours-charging-locations/720893002/

I couldn't read that above and not think you were setting it up for a version of the "I'm not gay but $20 is $20" line I've seen on Tshirts.


I'm not saying I need to get anywhere, but 20 miles is 20 miles.

 

[Lex Concord]

A quick Google search shows maximum weight (Bird) of 200 pounds. So basically me and my wallet. Or, a hipster wearing his skinny jeans and a 50 pound laptop backpack.

That would give me about 150 pounds of gear capacity... assuming I could ride two at once

 

[churchmouse]

That would give me about 150 pounds of gear capacity... assuming I could ride two at once

That is about right. For me as well.

 

[rhino]

I'm going to need more scooters.

 

[Wolfhound]

Here is a story about dozens of scooters being dumped in a lake. Designed to prevent pollution they become a type of pollution.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/electric-scooters-being-dumped-in-california-lake-as-popularity-explodes

 

[cbhausen]

How about the eSRL (electric scooter racing league)?

I can hear it now... “No fair, man! You had more battery than I did!”.

 

[churchmouse]

Heard on the radio today they have drained the canal downtown for cleaning and found several of these things on the bottom.

 

[schmart]

Am I the only one reading this wondering WTH a bird scooter is?

So I know I'm getting in on this way late, and almost hate to post and resurrect an otherwise almost dead thread...but I've been researching these for non-survival reasons. The thread has shown photos of the scooters so you should by now know what they look like. As far as construction, they are a simple chinese built device (Xiaomi M365), but the rental companies add a custom controller basically built around a cell phone. This controller uses GPS to locate the scooter position, and sends that position back to the company so that their servers know where it is at.

To use the scooter, you have to have a smart phone with their app on it. Your phone connects to the scooter you want to ride via bluetooth, both systems talk to the company servers over your own data connection, and if you have $$ credit available in your account, the controller unlocks the scooter so that the motor is active. You are billed back by the minute for usage.

As far as survival mode... how could these be used. In their stock form, I'm not sure they would be worth much for transportation due to the need for cell phone data... In that case you need to start looking at parts. They have about a 1/3 HP motor, a open source micro controller, and a battery pack made up of 30 18605 LiIon batteries which are probably the most common battery type in existence, used in everything from laptops to Teslas. These are set up to provide a 36 volt battery pack by connecting 3 parallel strings of 10 series cells, to have a 1/3 kWh (350Wh) battery pack. To put this in perspective, it would take 270 of these battery packs to make up a Tesla P90 battery.

However look at the parts available, especially if you have 4 scooters available... pull the battery pack out and re-configure it to a 12V pack, charged by a solar cell. You now have 1.3 kWh of power available storage. You'd get 130 hours of light from a 10 watt LED (or 2 60watt equivalent bulbs). With an inverter, you could power a small refrigerator or computer for most of a day. Pull the motorized wheels off and connect the 4 platforms together and you have the makings for a wheeled sled with a 400 lb load capability with reasonable rough surface mobility. Not sure what you would want to use the motorized wheels for in that case, but I'm sure they would come in handy for something.

However, outside this survival scenario scenario, they do seem to be a blight on the environment and society. The sad part is that given the low prices due to the large quantity purchases made it seems they become profitable for the rental company after surviving for about 22 days... so I only expect to see their presence expanded even more.
--Rick

 

[actaeon277]

Well, this isn't about "bird scooters", but I figure it'd fit here.

[video=youtube;H3_mVryqXpU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3_mVryqXpU[/video]







[video=youtube;ela3bPtookg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ela3bPtookg[/video]







On a side note, I see people complain about how hard they have it.
Look what she goes through to assemble her wheel chair to get out of the car.
Losing the use of her legs DID NOT stop her.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Well, this isn't about "bird scooters", but I figure it'd fit here.

[video=youtube;H3_mVryqXpU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3_mVryqXpU[/video]







[video=youtube;ela3bPtookg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ela3bPtookg[/video]







On a side note, I see people complain about how hard they have it.
Look what she goes through to assemble her wheel chair to get out of the car.
Losing the use of her legs DID NOT stop her.

I see some amazing people where I work. Some are deaf, some are blind. One guy has no arms and no prosthetics - he types with his feet on a specially designed keyboard. The human spirit is an incredible thing when people decide to use it.

 

[actaeon277]

I see some amazing people where I work. Some are deaf, some are blind. One guy has no arms and no prosthetics - he types with his feet on a specially designed keyboard. The human spirit is an incredible thing when people decide to use it.

When I see stuff like that, I feel kind of silly about some of my excuses of why I don't do something.

 

[rhino]

1. That thing is awesome.
2. The guy and team who made it are awesome.
3. The girl is awesome.
4. I want one for myself.

 

[actaeon277]

1. That thing is awesome.
2. The guy and team who made it are awesome.
3. The girl is awesome.
4. I want one for myself.

You want the girl, or the bike?

By the way, I found a video of her talking about what happened to her.
She was an athletic type of person. Ballerina and such. She was horse riding, dismounted, hit another horse while swinging, fell, broke her back.
And I think the guy and the girl are now engaged to be married.

 

[Butch627]

A quick Google search shows maximum weight (Bird) of 200 pounds. So basically me and my wallet. Or, a hipster wearing his skinny jeans and a 50 pound laptop backpack.

So can you sue them for discrimination if you weigh more than 200lbs?

 

[rhino]

You want the girl, or the bike?

By the way, I found a video of her talking about what happened to her.
She was an athletic type of person. Ballerina and such. She was horse riding, dismounted, hit another horse while swinging, fell, broke her back.
And I think the guy and the girl are now engaged to be married.

I was thinking of the bike! She's cute and impressively plucky, but I am committed (and old enough to be her dad, maybe her grandfather).

 

[actaeon277]

I was thinking of the bike! She's cute and impressively plucky, but I am committed (and old enough to be her dad, maybe her grandfather).

She's 30 something.

 

[gregkl]

When I see stuff like that, I feel kind of silly about some of my excuses of why I don't do something.

"The human spirit is an incredible thing when people decide to use it."


Same here. Sometimes I think the major issues in life are easier to confront than the minor irritations that we let get to us.

 

[actaeon277]

[video=youtube;ILCDfIBn1fw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCDfIBn1fw[/video]

 

[rhino]

She's 30 something.

I'm fiddy-four, so definitely old enough to be dad! Close to being old enough to be grandpappy in one of the especially weird families in which a generation is 13 years.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Early in the thread someone mention speedway has many locked away in storage....anyone have a number to call to talk to someone about acquiring a few?