Lester is a rideable electric beaver, and a rolling mascot for all things Canadian. Built in 2015 for the Calgary Maker Faire, Lester has since been involved in numerous Canada Day festivities, multiple citizenship ceremonies, and plenty of other shenanigans.
Underneath the covers Lester began life as a pair of surplus wheelchair motors, from there an aluminum frame was machined and bolted together, with a sculpted body by Janet Mader.
The bulk of my time and effort went into the custom code that controls the motors. I first spent a week getting the joystick movements to be safe and predictable, but soon found it lacked a certain sense of excitement. The next week I tweaked the code to give the feeling that what you are riding is taking suggestions, not orders and Lester was born.
If you would like to ride Lester yourself, he lodges at the Vancouver Hack Space, where visitors and members are welcome to take him for a spin. Don’t worry he’s quite safe, with hundreds of riders over the years, of all ages from 5 to 95, we’ve had a perfect safety record with not a single fatality.
