Honda Uni-Cub quick spin

Tools of personal mobility are as much a boon for young, lazy folks as they are for people with some sort of mobility impairment. Why else would one want to go around malls, a library or even an airport on a set of motorised wheels rather than walking? Well, I for one, favour the former. I might not be young, but laziness remains one of my core values.

Needless to say, I quite enjoyed riding around on Honda's latest indoor personal mobility tool, the Uni-Cub. The Uni-Cub is a high-tech piece of equipment. It is the latest iteration of the U-3X, developed years back based on the learnings from ASIMO, Honda's humanoid robot. And it's essentially being showcased as Honda-Robotics' tour de force.

The Uni uses Honda's own Omni Traction Drive system. The system uses many wheels. The largest wheel provides front and back movement. That wheel also has many smaller wheels configured into it (complicated, I know) which give the Uni its side-to-side movement. And then, there's a small rear wheel that helps with steering; much like the rudder on a boat. Overall, the Uni-Cub can not only go forward and back and left to right, it can also move diagonally and can turn on the spot.

With regard to its other technical specifications, it weighs 25kg - so clearly, you can't check it in on any domestic flight. But, it has quite a handy seat height of 620mm, meaning even the shortest full-grown adult in most families will be able to get on board and ride. And finally, it gets a removable lithum-ion battery so it's convenient to carry around and charge it wherever and whenever. And lest we forget, the seat height is adjustable and the footpegs also work as a stand.

As far as operating the Uni goes, like on a segway, one just needs to lean in to the direction of travel. The resulting change in weight gets the Uni-Cub rolling in the direction of your liking. It's not very fast - it has a top speed of 6kmph - but in an enclosed area, it feels quick enough. Not to mention, it is good fun to ride around. You can dodge chairs and colleagues in office; littered toys and the kids themselves at home; and when you are bored of all that, you can cook up a make shift track and start timing yourself, all in the comfort of your own living room!

Yes, we know the Uni-Cub is meant to be targeted at people who can't handle a lot of walking or running around because of injury, muscle damage or old age. But given how much fun this thing can be, even the young at heart should consider it, lazy or otherwise. It would be a great play tool. What's more, imagine racing these in a miniature Gymkhana event with your friends, inside your garage, or in an open parking lot, or even on the terrace of a large house! And call it the Uni-Cub Challenge.

So Honda, when can we buy one in India?

Pictures - Tushar Kamath