A deformable spherical planet exploration robot

Abstract

In this paper, a deformable spherical planet exploration robot has been introduced to achieve the task of environmental detection in outer space or extreme conditions. The robot imitates the morphology structure and motion mechanism of tumbleweeds. The robot is wind-driven. It consists of an axle, a spherical steel skeleton and twelve airbags. The axle is designed as two parts. The robot contracts by contracting the two-part axle. The spherical robot installs solar panels to provide energy for its control system.

ARIES: Cylindrical Pendulum Actuated Explorer Sphere

“…Some are also commercially available, commonly sold as toys to learn robotics [8]. While there are as many spherical rolling robot designs as there are specific sets of characteristics, their locomotion systems can be summarized in three broad categories: 1) barycentric [9], [10]; 2) conservation of the angular momentum [11], [12]; and 3) shell deformation [13], [14]. In this paper, only barycentric spherical robots are considered, as opposed to those based on the conservation of the angular momentum and shell deformation, as well as spherical robots using outer forces, such as the NASA/JPL Tumbleweed polar rover [15], those with external limbs [16] and those meant for underwater applications [17].…”

Dynamic Obstacle Overcoming Capability of Pendulum-Driven Ball-Shaped Robots

“…The airbags, when inflated, complete the wire frame into a full sphere [37]. For analytical mobility estimation, Liang et al consider the wind pressure and rolling friction on a rolling sphere so to reach an estimate for the ball velocity.…”