Imagine two large spheres with a motorcycle-like structure sitting on top of them. Ball wheels allow the vehicle to move freely in all directions, whether forward, backward, sideways or in a circle around the driver. The whole thing bears some similarities to the spherical Star Wars droid BB-8, whose head always stays up while the spherical body rotates and moves.
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This is the latest creation of the British self-balancing machine expert and is presented on his YouTube channel “@jamesbruton” as an “Omnidirectional Ball-Wheeled Bike”, which in German means something like “Multidirectional Bike on Spherical Wheels”.
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I built a bike with an omni-directional ball-wheel
Omni wheels enable control
Both balls are controlled or rotated by three omni wheels attached to the upper half of each ball, which are placed in a circle at a distance of 120 degrees. An omniwheel is like a cylindrical disk with small wheels mounted on its edge, which enables rolling motion in the longitudinal axis in addition to normal rotation. When one of the omnidirectional wheels rotates, the large ball below rotates with it. The other two omniwheels, which are offset by 120 degrees from the first omniwheel, can rotate easily due to small mini-wheels on their sides.
The large ball is controlled by three omnidirectional wheels arranged in a circle.
Two balls, which are approximately 75 centimeters high, are commonly used by acrobatic performers. They are made of plastic, very stable, perfectly round and hollow.
Electronics
On the electronics side, the Teensy 4.1 microcontroller along with Sparkfun’s BNO086 IMU (inertial measurement unit) ensures that the vehicle balances itself and does not tip over. The motors and their controllers come from Odrive. The bike can be controlled in two different ways: either using twist-grip handlebars or by shifting the rider’s weight.
James Bruton built the frame from traditional 40 x 40 aluminum groove profiles. Many other parts, such as the holders for the ball bearings and the housings that house the omni wheels, come from 3D printers.
driving on a ball is not a new idea
This isn’t James Bruton’s first omnidirectional bike. In the past, he created, among other things, a “screw bicycle” based on four omnidirectional wheels located transversely in the longitudinal direction and in 2019 he attracted a lot of attention with a remote-controlled bowling ball that rotates after a strike. Provides guarantees even for less talented players Audi presented a concept vehicle in 2004, the Audi RSQ, which had balls instead of wheels.
(mch)
