Unified state estimation for a ballbot

A multi-ball drive for omni-directional mobility

“…This type of design encase the majority of the ball minimizing the surface area of the ball that is exposed which in turn obstructs ball form rolling over uneven terrain or obstacles. A more open claw-like design is used in [2] which is composed of three rigid fmgers which hold the ball in place. This design exposes more of the surface area of the ball, however it can still restrict the motion of the ball if the fingers of the claw come in contact with an obstacle.…”

“…A third design inspired by the Omni-wheel used by the balancing robot in [2] has recently been developed (version 3 in Fig. 8).…”

“…8). The design has a similar configuration to the one used in [2] and consists of alternating and overlapping large and small roller. The advantage of this design is that it almost completely eliminates the gaps between the rollers creating a nearly perfect circular profile.…”

“…Spherical wheels are not an entirely new concept, various vehicle concepts which utilize spherical wheels in different forms have already been proposed [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Existing designs include dynamically balancing robots that use a single ball for mobility [1,2], rolling robots that are completely encased inside of a hollow sphere [3][4][5] and mobile platforms that make use of multiple balls for mobility [6][7][8].…”

“…Existing designs include dynamically balancing robots that use a single ball for mobility [1,2], rolling robots that are completely encased inside of a hollow sphere [3][4][5] and mobile platforms that make use of multiple balls for mobility [6][7][8]. Although the feasibility of using spherical wheels has already been demonstrated by existing work, literature related to this topic is still very sparse; and real world examples of mobility platforms that utilize spherical/ball wheels are very hard to find.…”