Spherical robot with new type of two-pendulum driving mechanism

Abstract

This paper introduces a spherical robot, called KisBot II, with a new type of two-pendulum driving mechanism. A cross-shape frame is located horizontally in the center of the robot. The main axis of the frame is connected to the outer shell, and each pendulum is connected to the end of the other axis of the frame respectively. The main axis and pendulums can rotate 360 degrees inside the sphere orthogonally without interfering with each other, also the two pendulums can rotate identically or independent of each other. Due to this driving mechanism, KisBot II has various motion generation abilities, including a fast steering ability, turning ability in place and during travelling, and four(forward / backward / left / right) directional driving ability on the ground. Experiments for several motions verify the driving efficiency of the proposed spherical robot.