What does a ballbot mean?

A ballbot is a dynamically-stable mobile robot designed to balance on a single spherical wheel (i.e., a ball). Through its single contact point with the ground, a ballbot is omnidirectional and thus exceptionally agile, maneuverable and organic in motion compared to other ground vehicles. Its dynamic stability enables improved navigability in narrow, crowded and dynamic environments. The ballbot works on the same principle as that of an inverted pendulum.

Ballbots Around The World

 

The CMU Ballbot, the first successful ballbot built by Prof. Ralph Hollis (not in picture) at Carnegie Mellon University, USA in 2005.

 

The BallIP developed by Prof. Masaaki Kumagai at Tohoku Gakuin University, Japan in 2008.

 

The Rezero developed at ETH Zurich, Switzerland in 2010.

 

The CMU Ballbot with a pair of 2-DOF arms (2011). It is the first and currently, the only ballbot with arms.