Roller racer
Toy vehicle for children
title: "Roller racer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["human-powered-vehicles"] description: "Toy vehicle for children" topic_path: "general/human-powered-vehicles" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_racer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Toy vehicle for children ::
A Roller Racer, or Flying Turtle as it was originally named by the inventor, is a toy human-powered vehicle for children. It was invented in the 1970s by a retired Boeing engineer as a gift for his grandson, using a tractor seat for the prototype toy.{{cite web | publisher = The Experimental Nonlinear Physics Group, Dept of Physics, University of Toronto | title = The Physics of the Roller Racer and the Plasma Car | year = 2008 | url = http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~smorris/edl/plasmacar/plasmacar.html | accessdate = September 20, 2008}} The vehicle consists of an injection-molded, polyethylene seat with rear wheels, attached to a T-style handlebar by a pin joint. The handlebars also have wheels, attached to what would be the vertical part of the "T". In the 1980s the Roller Racer was sold under the WHAM-O brand name Dragonfire,{{cite web |publisher = www.wham-o.com |title = History of Wham-O |year = 2008 |url = http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=aboutushistory |accessdate = September 20, 2008 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081028234736/http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=AboutUsHistory |archivedate = 2008-10-28 |publisher = Mason Corporation |title = The Original Roller Racer |year = 2008 |url = http://www.masoncorporation.com/sprv_institutional.html |accessdate = September 20, 2008 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080917184818/http://www.masoncorporation.com/sprv_institutional.html |archivedate = 2008-09-17
The method of propulsion is unique to this scooter. The user moves forward by oscillating the handlebars from side to side. Published studies in Experimental Non-Linear Physics have been conducted worldwide on this product. It is used in amusement parks, schools, day care centers, family fun centers and homes.
References
References
- "Oscillations, SE(2)-snakes and motion control: a study of the Roller Racer"http://www.isr.umd.edu/~krishna/images/DynSyst_RR.pdf
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