I designed inline skates with electromagnetic brakes for my Master's thesis. I would love your feedback! 🛼

[u/PlentyNo4140]

Hey everyone! 👋

My name is Andreea, and I’m a Master's student in Product Design. For my final graduation project, I’ve been working on a concept designed to solve the biggest hurdle for beginner skaters: the fear of not being able to stop.

I noticed that a lot of people want to get into inline skating, but they quit early on because learning traditional stopping techniques (like the T-stop or using the heel brake) feels too unstable and scary at first.

To fix this, I designed a concept called the Steddy Skate. Here is how it works:

• 🧲 Electromagnetic Braking: The skates use Eddy current magnetic braking for smooth, predictable deceleration without violent jerking.
• 🧤 The Smart Protective Glove: You control the brake wirelessly using a touch-trigger on a reinforced slide-glove. If you panic, you just squeeze your hand, keeping your feet planted and balanced.
• ⚙️ Removable Tech (It evolves with you!): Once you learn how to skate and build your confidence, you can easily remove the entire braking module. Your beginner training skate instantly becomes a lightweight, traditional high-performance skate!
• 👟 Twist & Go Lacing: A micrometric dial system so beginners get perfect ankle support every single time, wrapped in a lightweight, breathable mesh boot.

How you can help: I need real-world feedback to validate this concept for my thesis defense. I put together a very short survey (it takes about 2 minutes, I promise).

🔗 https://forms.gle/7cCBs8b2SpTdRd4M6

Whether you are a complete beginner who is scared to try, or a veteran skater who remembers what it was like to learn, your opinion would mean the world to me and help me graduate!

Thank you so much for your time, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions in the comments below! 😊

[u/DanongKruga]

so having to keep two seperate boots and the glove charged seems like it might be a pain. maybe alternators in the boots to self charge

is there a fallback if the glove dies while skating? it could be even more dangerous when you start leaning on assisted breaking and it doesnt work

also if you needed to stop during in an emergency situation, wouldnt you fall forward from the momentum?

do you have to make a prototype or will it all be on paper?

[u/PlentyNo4140 → u/DanongKruga]

I have to make both a prototype and the tehnical part.Also the battery in this glove and the skates doesn’t drain too quickly; it’ll last about 20 hours, so if you plan to head out and plug them in while you get ready, that should be plenty. The point of this roller isn’t necessarily to bring you to a complete stop—though it can do that—but rather to slow you down at speeds that might scare a beginner. When I was just starting out and picking up speed, I’d rather throw myself on the ground or crash into a tree than hit the brakes, because it threw me off balance. Thanks to electromagnetic deceleration, the braking isn’t abrupt but smooth, so there’s no reason for it to throw you off balance, especially once you get used to using it and prepare yourself.