More than 10 years ago, Ralph Hollis, a research professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, created the ballbot robotic system. Now, Hollis has improved upon the technology of the ballbot and created a newer and better version called the SIMbot.

“Even without optimizing the motor’s performance, SIMbot has demonstrated impressive performance,” said Hollis. “We expect SIMbot technology will make ballbots more accessible and more practical for wide adoption.”

What makes the SIMbot better than its predecessor is that the ballbot was mechanically driven, while the new SIMbot is powered by a spherical induction motor (SIM). Hollis, along with Masaaki Kumagai, a professor of engineering at Tohoku Gakuin University in Tagajo, Japan, created the motor. With the SIM now controlling the bot, there is less maintenance required and the chances of a mechanical failure have dramatically decreased.

Another unique feature of the SIMbot is that the motor’s rotor is spherical, and it can also move in any combination of three axes. As a result, it has omnidirectional capability, meaning that that the sphere can move in any direction as opposed to a limited range of motion.

According to Hollis, the SIMbot is built to work with humans, and can help with certain tasks such as helping someone out of a chair, helping to carry parcels and physically guiding a person. The SIMbot can be as tall as a person, but it is always slim enough to easily maneuver through doors or move aside if it’s not being used.

The National Science Foundation and the Japanese Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) lent support for this research.

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