oTo-Robotics.
The machine.
We are developing a successor to the legendary Segway PT, used for guided Segway tours for nearly a quarter of a century: oTo, a self-balancing, AI-enabled human transporter that we plan to build in America.
Where things stand: today’s tours run on our HumanOnaStick Segway fleet in Minneapolis and St. Paul. oTo is in development, so this page describes what we are designing and our goals.
Built for guided group tours, and nothing else.
10-point safety training and coaching: GlideWise™
Our proven 10-point program is being built into the machine, to train and coach every rider before and during the tour.
Group intelligence safety system: SwarmNav™
The machines in a tour group are designed to work together, so the group moves safely as one.
Immersive, high-fidelity audio
Guide narration, safety cues and music through speakers built into each machine, kept in sync across the whole group.
60+ languages with auto-translation
Designed to deliver narration and safety cues in more than 60 languages, translated automatically.
Customer call button
A call button with a unique 3-way activation, so riders can reach the guide when they need help.
Haptic and lighting warnings: oTo-Safe™
Handlebar and footpad haptics and lights are designed to warn riders and make the group visible to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
oTo-Fit™ customer scoring app
A GlideWise scoring app that turns safe, skilled riding into a game.
oTo-Port™ loyalty and repeat discounts
A loyalty and repeat-discount system that rewards riders for coming back.
The Segway PT was a remarkable vehicle. oTo is designed as a whole tour.
Knows where its wheels are
Designed to reduce clipping and collisions, the kind of everyday contact that guides have watched for on every tour for decades.
Group path planning
Coordinated navigation for the whole group, not one machine at a time, so a big group can move together.
Assistance for riders
Driver-assistance features for a sidewalk: designed to help a rider, with a guide always in charge.
Settings that know the rider
Individual settings and a rider history, so people of different sizes, ages and confidence levels get a machine that fits them.
Built to last
Designed for long commercial service, with parts that can be replaced in the field and recyclable components.
Swappable batteries
Snap-in batteries reduce downtime, with a backup power layer designed to allow a safe stop if a battery fails or disconnects.
A parking dock
A stable, controlled way to park and dock, built for stores and fleet handling.
Machines that report in
Designed to report location and health, so problems can be found before the morning’s first tour.
A familiar feel
Lean forward to go, lean back to stop. We’re keeping the intuitive control that made people love the original, and adding guardrails around it.
Designed and engineered in Minneapolis.
oTo comes from 23 years of running Segway tours in Minneapolis and St. Paul: more than 1,000,000 miles ridden and over 100,000 documented riders, most of them riding for the first time. The first oTo machines are planned to be built here in 2028.
Prototype testing will determine the final features and operating limits, so some of what’s on this page may change as we build and test it.