Design of centroid deviated spherical rolling robot

Abstract

A spherical robot is a machine with a unique appearance and novel function. The spherical robot function designed in this study is limited to the movement in all directions. The principle is that the centroid of the spherical robot deviates from the centroid to create an unbalanced state, which drives the movement of the spherical robot. The structure of the spherical robot is mainly composed of a ball screw, two self-rotating frames, and a spherical shell. Its action is similar to that of the ‘Euphorbia’ – A self-aligning frame and a ball screw form a spherical coordinate system. Through the rotation of two self-rotating frames, a spherical coordinate is formed. The two corners of the system move in a vertical direction through the ball screw to achieve the movement of the target centre of mass on the polar axis.

Keywords

• motion control
• mobile robots
• ball screws
• robot kinematics
• robot dynamics
• centroid
• spherical rolling robot
• unique appearance
• novel function
• spherical robot function
• spherical robot deviates
• ball screw
• self-rotating frames
• spherical coordinate system