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Robot Balances on a Single Spherical Wheel
dalangalma writes "Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed a new kind of robot called the Ballbot that balances on a steel ball. Using a mechanism similar to a ball mouse, the Ballbot uses rollers to drive its single, spherical wheel and balance in place or glide around the room. The promise of such dynamically stable robots is that they can be much taller without having to have a wide base, making them much more suitable for working with humans. They are also much more agile, since they can be pushed out of the way easily without falling over. You can read the press release or check out the project's web page when it recovers from traffic."
"single spherical wheel" = a ball
re:"The promise of such dynamically stable robots is that they can be much taller without having to have a wide base, making them much more suitable for working with humans. "
Until said humans goes down a flight of stairs.
*Oof*
*Bounce*
*Expensive crashey noises*
At this rate we'll have-em screaming "exterminate" in no time.
(and yes I know post 2005 Daleks can do everything and go everywhere - I'm talking pre-video-game dalek)
It's been a loooong time since I watched the show, but didn't the Jetson's have a robot like this?
Weebles wobble, but they don't take over humanity.
Other jokes could involve roll-on deodorant, or those kid's inflatable boxing dummies that flip back up when you hit them.
Neat design, really. I think a lot of people's first urge would be to try and push the robot over though, which like the old Weebles, may produce that same herky-jerky roll back to stability. I wonder how much gunk would build up in the mouse-wheel of those things though - be hard to turn it over to clean with that production model. Have to have some kind of door in it to clean without taking it out.
Ryan Fenton
Shrink this down and fill it with ink. An automatic pen! Well, it sounds good on paper...
Looks good for your age..
Help. I am a robot and I have fallen and I can't get up.
welcome our big balled overlords
Similar, but different.
The overall concept is the same (in the sense that you have a system to balance and probably similar mathematics to do it), but the single point of contact with the ground makes for a different solution matrix. Segways need only balance in one dimension; this robot has to account for two, and it must solve for its balance with one manipulator. To add to the complexity, it must also navigate and motivate itself; a Segway's navigation system takes advantage of the sensors and processor installed in all of its cargo (a handy feature!) to offset the 'heavy lifting' of directional goals.
I believe this project may also pre-date the segway by a few years, if you look at the papers published on it.
Take care,
Mark
There is a solution...
You know, I've always hated that whenever I try to push a robot out of the way, I fall over.
This feature will be a boon to senior citizens especially.
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
The promise of such dynamically stable robots is that they can be much taller without having to have a wide base, making them much more suitable for working with humans
Huh? How does thinner = autmatically "much more suitable"? I just don't get it. We're used to working with people, and that extends to their personal space, which is substantially larger than the person. Who says that human/robot 'synergy' has anything to do with how fat the robot is?
Nevermind that all that active movement to keep standing upright means lots of battery drain, and irritating/distracting movement to said humans. We find coworkers that tap pens on their desks annoying, but they think this will 'fly'?
Oh, when the battery runs out of juice, or a motor (or its controller) goes dead- hilarity ensues...
Please help metamoderate.
I vaguely recall there being an alien race in Piers Anthony's Cluster series that balanced and moved on a single large ball. Anyone remember the name of the race? It'd be wonderfully nerdy if the CMU folks renamed their robot after these aliens. I also vaguely recall these aliens having sex by going around and around in a circle rolling continuously over a trail of slime. Maybe the CMU robots can do that too...
Using a mechanism similar to a ball mouse
Pfft... Let me know when they've developed a mechanism similar to a laser mouse.
FTA:
"When Ballbot is not in operation, it stands in place on three retractable legs."
So 'nervous balance' motions won't be necessary, one could assume.
As for the thinness issue: it is precisely the personal space issue that makes a thin robot useful in a crowded public space. Our perception of personal space factors in the personal space of the other person. So a robot that is as wide as one's 'personal space bubble' causes people interacting with it to give it even more room. The thin chassis on this robot alleviates that problem by only taking up an amount of space roughly equivalent to the human torso, so that a person's "personal space guess" comes out accurately.
Take care,
Mark
There is a solution...
"Technological Thret" is an 1988 animated short directed by Bill Kroyer. It centers around the introduction of an office robot that rolls around on a single ball in the bottom of its structure. One of the interesting little details about the short was that the robots were first animated in a computer, then rotoscoped in 2D to fit with the rest of the 2D short. The bot in the short didn't look *that much* like the Ballbot, but just enough to bring it to mind.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Only the ones without legs
Letter To Iran
There are some videos available on youtube, in case you want to spare them some bandwidth.
"You're everywhere. You're omnivorous."
first wad of gum that thing rolls over might bring it to a stop, or make it list to port or something ->
roll THUNK roll THUNK. And stairs? Or going outside?
I like old school, traditional sci fi robots, humanoid looking, bipedal walking type. If they need to get fancy, drop in the jackie chan mod chip or something.
This thing should star in a 1960s Japanese movie.
*speaking into wrist communicator* Ballbot! TRANSFORM!
That's a nice system. There are some annoying limitations, though. It's tough to change the orientation of the robot, although you can handle that if you have a rotational joint further up so you can rotate the torso. Small diameter balls have the same problems as small diameter wheels - it's easy to get stuck in small depressions. That's why the Segway has such big wheels. And driving a sphere is always a tough problem mechanically. Most of the solutions have trouble with dirt accumulating on the drive wheels, which is why optical mice have replaced ball mice. It's possible to build a spherical electric motor, and that might be the way to go if this concept turns out to be useful.
It's good to see all this activity in self-balancing systems again, having worked on this around 1994-1995, and seen others working on it in the 1980s. Today, you can buy so much of what you need off the shelf, like good INS units. We used to waste too much time building custom stuff.
With the advent of robots that are immune to pushing, the eternal question becomes more relevant than ever: do you have stairs in your house?
In the videos they have threaded a big innertube over the structure, presumably to cushion the fall every time it tipped over.
Since the purpose of this structure is to interact with humans, They should just install big inflatable boobs and ass instead.
"Fix it"
Tachiko-maaaa!
My daughter's obsessed w/ Tachikoma, as well. She's buying blue everything, to look like one. Her biggest dilemma right now in life, is whether to die her hair purple, (and thus resemble the Major,) or to die her hair blue (and thus resemble a Tachikoma.)
What happens when the robot tilts forward and so needs to move forward to correct its balance, but runs into something before it has moved far enough to correct itself? Does it simply fall over?
My kids would probably take it down with a single Hotwheel toy. They took me down a few times that way. Too bad they are too young to sue.
Table-ized A.I.
In fact all sorts of sudden directional changes and steering become much simpler.
at first glance, maybe.
but think about this: i'm a bicycle mechanic, and tool around with various art bikes in my spare time. one idea i had was for a dual steering bike, where both wheels turned at the same time, synched up with rods and bearings. the goal was to make a bike that travels diagonally, or even sideways, once the balance issues are worked out. as i thought about this, it occured to me that if i was riding along at a steady pace on a northerly heading--say 10 mph, and turned the bars to the west a little bit--turning both wheels in the same direction--the bike and me aren't gonna all of a sudden gonna be travelling in a northwest heading. the bike and i have momentum built up, as well the wheels act as gyroscopes, which aren't all that easy to turn while they're spinning. as i go to turn the bars, i'll be tweaking the bike and me in the direction/amount i've tried to turn the bars. the bike and i will continue heading north, but we'll be sort of doglegged, riding sideways... i couldn't figure out how to get past this, so i abandoned the project...
Preface: My lab has four Segway-RMPs (RMP = robotics mobility platform). I don't work with them directly, but I know quite a bit about the work being done.
:) The current owner of Xavier should throw him in there too; He looks very lonely now as he has been consigned to work on a robotic crane for several years now instead of roaming the halls of Wean or NSH.
The main advantage of the ballbot is that it can be narrower to fit in tight spaces. The footprint of an RMP isn't really any better than the other robots it replaces. The Segway's main advantages are that it is fast, it works outdoors, and it can carry fairly heavly loads. The ballbot looks like a work in progress, and the results in the paper do not indicate that the control is anywhere near as stable as the current Segways.
In the paper they state the inevitable demise of statically balanced robots, though I'm not sure I believe that. Balance controllers are not very friendly when they trip over objects on the floor - they drive faster and faster into the object until the object yields (i.e. breaks) or the robot cannot keep up, and eventually fall one way or the other. An angry Segway is thus not very pleasant. Balanced platforms do react nicely to disturbances at the top end, however. Ballbot will have to have a smooth cover so as not to get hooked on anything, which is another problem. Ultimately, I would not be suprised to eventually see semi-balanced bases: A statically stable robot that can hinge near the bottom for dynamic actions but can come to rest while holding a position.
Regarding the speed issue, I think I'd be happy to race an RMP against the ballbot. Even if directional changes are required for the Segway, it would be hard to beat it over a traversal of any length. Our lab is also at CMU, so a race is actually possible
Finally, it is quite a shame the paper doesn't even seem to acknowledge the existence of RMPs. Yes, they are not the original self-balancing robots, but they are the only one which is commercially available, and famous enough that they likely form the inspiration for this work. We've had the RMPs since 2003 (which the Segway HT obviously pre-dates), and the earliest ballbot paper was 2005.
This is the first time I've posted to Slashdot in nearly 5 years.
That robot in the videos is truly amazing - graceful, simple, and harmonious.
This is what we need - systems that co-operate with humans, can be pushed around, and stick to their own personal space.
We need more beauty and grace in the world, not less.
I work in technology, but I also study feng shui, and that robot has it in abundance.
Knowing the folks at the robotics institute it'll be about 2 years before we see the army testing out a prototype robot that balances on a ball .... and then uses the ball to crush infantry while launching missiles.
CMU has a lot of great projects like that. Gladiator, Crusher... I know that most individual robot builders mean well, and I have friends who are anti-war at the RI, but seriously, look at who is actually demanding this technology and where it's being used. It's not being used to house the poor.
-bugg
we'll make it optical, that'll solve the problem!
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random