I had the very excellent opportunity to take the Office Chairiot™ into an empty office suite in our building this afternoon. It was not the adrenaline rush that I used to get skydiving, but it definitely ranked up there. Danger factor was high, since the office chair has almost zero controllability. I might as well have been riding on a giant hockey puck gliding around on a giant hockey rink. The office suite is actually several that are all wide open. It was a lot like a roller skating arena, only a little smaller. There was a lot of construction dust on the cement floor, but the cement was smooth as silk for the little wheels on the office chair. The wheels on the motor unit are rubber and standard-sized scooter chair size, so they can go semi-all-terrain.
I lined up the Office Chairiot™ in one far corner and pushed the throttle of the speed controller to full. Using the occasional (and as little as possible to stay safe) toe touch to the floor to keep the office chair lined up behind the speedy little motor unit, I just let the motor get up to full speed. I was going fast enough to kick up dust behind me. I left it wide open until about 20 feet before impact of the wall. One of the walls I drove toward in one direction was a street-facing all-glass window wall.
To brake, I had to basically put both feet (wearing Vans™-type tennis shoes) on the floor and stand up while leaning on the arms of the office chair. Between the weight of the motor unit and my weight on the shoes and floor, I was able to slow it from full speed to stopped in about 20 feet, give or take.
Top speed was probably approaching 10 miles per hour. Hard to say. The iPhone's GPS doesn't like steel and cinder block. Based on the feeling, how fast steel columns were flying past me, and the amount of work required to stop it, it was at least in that range.
It was an awesome run at high-speed. These ponies have only been able to get to about half speed around the office and people and the office furniture.
