The Original

Who is Angelboard?

AngelBoard is a company and brand based in Graz, Austria. As futurists and techies, we immediately fell in love with Chic’s self-balancing scooter technology. At the same time we were disappointed with all the controversy around the owner of the original patent and the hazards created by inferior copy-cat products being mass-produced in China and marketed around the world through websites like Ali Baba and Amazon.

As the only exclusive partner of Chic Intelligent Technology, our focus is to clear the confusion created by all misinformation that exists around the technology. As makers and designers, we are also collaborating with Chic on new product designs, features and innovations.

Who is CHIC?

CHIC was created to champion IP protection in China, to improve patents and copyrights and to foster sustainable innovation. It holds a series of patents related to the balance board technology, and diligently tries to protect them.1

Chic Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd was founded in 2013 by Pan Yunhe, the former President for over 20 years, of the Zhejiang University of Science and Technology.

As a small research and development arm of the University, the company holds numerous patents, including 22 independent intellectual property rights in regards to balance boards technologies. They are also supported by the Chinese government, including the Ministry of Education and the Computer Aided Product Innovation Design Engineering Center among others. The funding and support they receive is conditional to the adherence of strict absolute standards in industrial design, quality and testing.

Yunhe, a world renowned scientist of robotics and artificial intelligence, has been developing the technology found in the AngelBoard for almost ten years. The original patent series for the self-balancing scooter technology was filed in 2007 and has since been updated as the technology has advanced to where it is now.2

Why is the AngelBoard with CHIC technology better than other hoverboards?

Chic holds the patent to the technology behind the AngelBoard. As you may know, the manufacturing industry in China is infamous for violating laws pertaining to intellectual property. It is not unusual for companies to exploit trending technologies by reverse engineering the original designs, and developing an inferior product. This process is purely about making quick profits and there is little or no regard for quality and the safety of the end-user.

Currently, the manufacturers of imitation boards take shortcuts during production in order to save money. This means they can make their product quicker and cheaper, sell it cheaper, and sell more.

For the consumer of a self-balancing scooter, this translates into cheap, low-quality parts such as gyroscopes, batteries, motherboards and motors. This are not the kind of hardware you want to cut corners with the safety of you or your loved ones.

Another negative side of the knock-off industry is that the employees are often under compensated and expected to work much longer and faster. Statistics show that employees who are happy in the workplace build better products. Chic takes as much pride in its products as it does its employees and working environment.

Chic is passionate about their tech and the people who build and test it. They are changing the world through products they create and manufacturing practices. We know this, as we inspected their research and production facilities in China. We are honoured to be their exclusive partner as we bring their amazing technology to the world.

What is the difference between the AngelBoard and other self-balancing scooters such as the IO Hawk or the Oxboard?

IO Hawk is part of the CHIC story, as it was a legitimate Chic product repackaged and sold in the US earlier this year. An ethical dilemma arose when the CEO of IO Hawk repeatedly claimed to be the inventor/patent holder of Chic’s Smart S1 technology.

As for companies such as Oxboard, MonoRover etc, these are companies with no regard for patent and/or intellectual property laws trying to ride the wave of success created by Chic’s innovations. The list below identifies many of these companies however, it should be considered as incomplete, for it is normal for this type of company to close their doors with no notice, and reopen as a new brand.

If you are considering investing in a self-balancing scooter, please, do your due diligence as most fakes are known to suffer critical failures such as:
Cracking and breaking below advertised weight loads
Crashing as a result of uncontrollable wobbling even at low speeds
Battery related events such as fires and explosions

List of imitation boards

MonoRover
Oxboard

Does the AngelBoard have a warranty?

Yes, the AngelBoard has a one year warranty against any manufacturers defects. We have regional service operations for support and repair and are fully backed by CHIC.
For most knock-off boards, contacting the manufacturer is near impossible as they operate outside of patent and copyright law. This makes it difficult to get support for your product due to the fly-by-night nature of these companies.

What certificates of manufacturing quality has the AngelBoard received?

The letters “CE” are the abbreviation of French phrase “Conformité Européene” which literally means “European Conformity”.

The FCC mark is a certification mark employed on electronic products manufactured or sold in the United States which certifies that the electromagnetic interference from the device is under limits approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

C-tick is the Australian Communications Authority (Australian Communications Authority, or ACA) to the communications equipment certification mark.

The RoHS directive aims to restrict certain dangerous substances commonly used in electronic and electronic equipment.

References

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/the-weird-story-of-the-viral-chinese-scooter-phunkeeduck-io-hawk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Yunhe
http://www.chic-robot.com/en/index.php/service/service