An omnidirectional vehicle on a basketball

Abstract

This paper is about development of an omni directional vehicle on a spherical tire. The vehicle moves by rolling a spherical tire and balancing on it. We selected a basketball as a spherical tire, because basketball is made of rubber. In general, rubber tire has three features, which are durability, adaptabilities to the ground surface and force transmissivity. We think that using a basketball as a spherical tire is low-cost and advantageous. Next, we describe how to calculate torque and angular velocity, which motors generate to roll a basketball. They are needed for driving motors and dynamic simulations. Finally, we propose an interface to operate the vehicle. One, who rides on the vehicle, can move to all directions by shifting one's center of mass. A six-axis force-torque sensor senses weight shift