You may remember Ballbot from last year, an omnidirectional balancing robot straight out of science fiction.
It appears to be a popular idea. Take a look at these robots that are able to balance on a single ball, using it for locomotion. The first two appear to be DIY projects, while the third seems to have some additional financial backing.
This next robot balances on a ball using LEGO Mindstorms NXT computing power.
Here's another robot able to balance on a rigid ball with sufficient control to balance a beaker of water on its head.
And here's Ballbot, from Carnegie Mellon (read more about Ballbot).
Thanks to an anonymous reader who suggested this idea.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/30/2010)
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.' - Rog Philips, 1950.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'