VCU student develops self-propelled skateboard

Brian Charlton
Contributing Writer

Dillon Stewart, a sophomore business adminstration major, took it upon himself to reinvent the Segway this past summer.

His “Road Surfer,” an electric skateboard, is Stewart’s response to the leader in green electronic personal transportation that has recently grown in popularity.

Like the Segway, the Road Surfer works on a weight distribution system. Calibrated to a person’s center of balance, the four sensors in the board react to the amount of pressure depending on which direction one leans.

“When you lean forward, the sensors catch that and move you forward,” Stewart said.

But characteristic of any big idea, Stewart’s inspiration for the Road Surfer sparked from another side project he had previously completed.

“It comes down to a YouTube video I did a while back,” Stewart said. “I got about half a million views on this electric bicycle project I worked on.”

He chopped the pedals off the bike and replaced them with an electric motor.

“We didn’t expect it to go 60 miles an hour, but it did,” he said. “The acceleration and speed on this thing was just incredible, so I have been a kind of electric-vehicle enthusiast ever since.”

That achievement turned his focus to the Road Surfer, his second project. Since Stewart was a newcomer to electronics with the completion of his electric bicycle, his second attempt at a personal vehicle was still an experiment.

“It was a complete gamble. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not,” Steward said. “I just wanted to see if it would work, in theory.”

With much trial and error over the course of a summer, the Road Surfer finally worked – and worked well. Stewart said he still hopes to smooth over several kinks before he submits the skateboard design for a patent. He said he has high expectations for the future of the Road Surfer as an affordable Segway alternative.

Stewart ignored all responsibilities of his classes over the summer in order to complete the Road Surfer that had been building in his mind for months, he said. He also expressed admiration for the road taken by the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

“I hate business school, and I am just thinking about dropping out because if I am making a bunch of money, then there is really no point in going to school at all,” Stewart said.

Stewart looks at his creations as a profitable and business-oriented effort. His enthusiasm for business aims at an appreciation for the very program he wishes to leave.

“I’m hoping to sell this, make a decent amount of money and start bigger and better projects based off of this idea,” Stewart said.

For now, Stewart is just hoping to sell enough Road Surfers to make a profit for furthering his business endeavors.

The Road Surfer is currently priced around $1,000 for purchase.

Photos by Chris Conway