Testing Ball-Shaped Wheels on an Omni-Directional Vehicle
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
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What about, instead of wheels, we make a vehicle which uses balls, and we make it big enough to ride on?
I previously made a smaller ball wheel robot which you can check out in my channel.
A few years ago, Goodyear produced a concept for a tyre, which was a ball. But are ball shaped wheels practical, and can we make a vehicle or robot with ball shapes omni-wheels? I found a video about research carried out at Osaka University, where an omni-ball wheel is made in two halves and seems to work well. But is there more to it?
Last time I made three giant versions of these wheels, and in this video I’m going to assemble the chassis of the vehicle and see if I can ride on it.
Previous video: • Testing Ball-Shaped Wh...
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XROBOTS
Former toy designer, current RUclips maker and general robotics, electrical and mechanical engineer, I’m a fan of doing it yourself and innovation by trial and error. My channel is where I share some of my useful and not-so-useful inventions, designs and maker advice. Iron Man is my go-to cosplay, and 3D printing can solve most issues - broken bolts, missing parts, world hunger, you name it.
XRobots is the community around my content where you can get in touch, share tips and advice, and more build FAQs, schematics and designs are also available.
Definitely needs some foot rests welded into those two front bars. Looks really fun, though 😁 can't wait to see how it performs in the wild, after you get a seat on it.
would have been better to just use one ball
@@Blox117 You mean similear to a BB-8 office chair? Now that would be something:)
@@derjansan9564 yes they are self balancing ball bots, except without the bot.
it actually avoids some of the challenges of his build, such as being able to use a complete sphere instead of hemispheres.
I think he should face the other way, with the emergency stop between his legs so it's easy to reach, and adding a foot rest at the end of that beam, around the battery
Is he turning into Davros ???
This feels weirdly practical. Like I was not expecting to see such a good human size omnidirectionnal vehicle
It does. Despite it being omnidirectional, I feel like he needs to decide which side is the "front" and encode the controls with that in mind.
@@theconqueringenigma It was looking like the wheel with the e-stop was meant to be the front axle originally, but it's definitely hard to straddle the omni-wheel without a seat or foot rests.
It could become an excellent candidate to replace a wheelchair for disable people
@@matthewarmstrong7069 pretty sure it doesn't do well on a not flat surface sadly
Apparently it does well
I think you should do some tests to show how good or bad it would be for use as a mobility aid vehicle like a wheel chair, can it handle offroad at all? what changes would need to be made for that etc.
you could also look into making it autonomouse with a room scanner etc as a platform for generic robotic applications.
The one thing it would struggle with in terms of accessibility is it’s width - wheelchair users often can’t get through thin doors easily in a regular wheelchair.
However for outdoor use this would be amazing!
Every mouse is an autonomouse.
A smaller one would be perfect for people as a mobility scooter altermative especially indoors to turn around in tighter spaces
I think the hemispheres of the wheels wouldn't have any problem off-road, but the skateboard wheels at the poles might have trouble given their much smaller diameter
I think you will need some chock absorbers and ofcourse a seat where you can sit down on. Some flexible materials for outer layer of the wheel simular to a sphearical tier.
This is pretty cool! You could commercialize this design into a go-cart for their own parks. People would pay to drive these.
A few modifications:
1. Open up the center by making it big enough to mount the seat down near the bottom of the frame.
2. Add a rounded roll cage over the top for safety.
(Maybe make the cage large enough so that the whole vehicle is a half oval dome. So that it could roll completely upside down and then back over onto the wheels again.)
3. As many comments have mentioned - add footrests and suspension.
4. Make the wheel spheres out of metal, with real rubber tire tread.
5. More batteries, and maybe beef up the motors for more speed.
At the very least, do the CAD and send it to Collin, am I right? 😂
@@jdmeesey for sure!! 👍😝
or make a wheelchair...
@@dixie_rekd9601 The concept does look promising for a mobility device. However, the process for one that is certified for use by a disabled person is very expensive and time consuming.
Switching to on-axle motors would also be good, as then you could put the whole power assembly on the suspension and have some pretty heavy duty wheels.
You definitely need somewhere to put your feet when you ride it, having them loose makes me nervous you're gonna get them caught in the wheels. Also you've invented an amazing electric wheelchair if i've ever seen one, great job!
I was thinking the same thing, an electric Beach wheel chair.
I think its not easily tilted and base heavy enough. If you can mess around with the whole center of gravity a bit more, you can make a retractable seat; make it a scifi electric wheel chair.
sourced from a wheel chair maybe
braking might be a challenge with such design
@@victornpb Especially if one of the omni-wheels happens to turn on the roller-skate wheel.
Pro tip when using a router to cut aluminium: As strange as it sounds, if you want to increase RPM and feed rate without getting melty, use machinist lubricant or oil. It cools the part as you are going and allows much faster cutting and better "chipping" of the material as it is techically being cooled by the fluid. Its a little bit of mess for some near perfect (no need for the linisher to tidy) workpieces
Great to see other materials, tools and manufacturing methods again.
This is a maker channel, and a damned good one 👍
I feel like some sort of plastic molded cover that fits over the entire assembly which could sit on the three outer bars would be good. Leave half of the wheels visible and the covered bit showing the remaining contour of the wheel (and leaving gaps for wheel clearance). It'd look like some sort of spacecraft. You could pop a seat on top of the whole thing while your legs can rest in concave leg-shaped sections in the molded cover (perhaps with additional metalwork for support underneath so the plastic doesn't bend inward with the weight of resting legs). It'd all also serve as good protection for the electronics. It would probably mean outsourcing fabrication but would look pretty cool!
Gotta have a lot of transparent housing just to show off though
How about raising the axels and adding some form of suspension? The big pulleys are very close to the ground and I fear they'll be gone if you try to run this robot on an uneven surface. Also footrests.
I love how this guy is sponsored by like half of the manufacturing industry
I was thinking the same thing lol 😂very happy for him, it’s a great thing to see industry support cool content creators. Genuinely makes me want to purchase from them.
Clearly what's needed are head tracking motion controls: gyro or similar mounted on a bike helmet you should probably be wearing anyway, look left/right to yaw left/right, look up/down to strafe forward/back, tilt head left/right to strafe left/right.
Ai driver
Don’t sneeze
Lol I thought of similar but in the seat. Lean back n forth for stop and go, left n right to turn. But opted for paddles in the foot rests, and a stick for turning. That way it’s gona be more controllable.
Break your neck to go backwards
maybe make the vehicle align with the direction you are looking at, with a small dead zone so you don't rotate indefinitely. you turn your head and it rotates your torso until you are looking ahead again. then have a stick to control translation.
A seat. Foot rests. Arm rests with controller. And rotate yourself 180° to actually reach the emergency stop in case. Nice Project!
You need an inflated rubber grid on the wheels for spherical "tyres", so you can take not perfectly flat ground more easily.
Hmm, looking at this, that would make an amazing wheelchair. Being able to move in all directions like that would probably change some people's lives.
Interesting notion, but I expect this would have to be redesigned from the ground up to meet that purpose. Ability to negotiate slopes, stairs, and a braking system to lock it in position when needed, would all be essential.
@@chrisblake4198 It would need to be redesigned from the ground up to meet any purpose. Slapping a chair on top of a movement platform isn't the correct solution, especially with how tall the platform already is. Ridable platforms are much more complex in terms of design considerations compared to generalized motion platforms, due to needing to accommodate a rider, of which position and posture are important, while scale is also important and will most often determine seating position and posture. In the configuration of a chair, a rider's legs are typically an issue, which is why the typical office chair has all of its wheels located under the person with their legs outside of the boundaries of the base, but this requires a smaller scale. At this scale, mimicking a trike with an isosceles wheelbase will probably be the more optimal method, especially within a tadpole configuration, with a singular rear wheel, where the rider's legs can be forward of the wheelbase, as seen in most recumbent bikes that have a reclining position, though an upright posture where the rider can sit and stand at will would require a layout that results in potential balance issue due to how far forward the rider would need to sit, which is also an issue of the wheel geometry. Outside of fringe designs at larger scales, the only way an upright chair works for this platform is making an omni-directional office chair.
Spherical wheels are just generally problematic anyways. Overly large with next to no benefit, and arguably worse driving characteristics. The only time they will ever make sense is in the example of the Goodyear spherical wheel concept, a free-spinning ball that can be magnetically driven, as this would provide the best driving characteristics of any omni-wheel, especially at the scale and implementation they were conceptualized for; not to mention material and moisture ingress are negligible in this concept. Omni-wheels for wheelchairs could work, but only in the instance of in-store scooters, not in an environment where material ingress is a concern; this is basically why we only see large-scale omni-wheels used on forklifts that remain in an indoors environment on smooth concrete floors, ingress is a concern and combating ingress significantly raises prices in mechanism with so many rotating parts. This then leads into why vehicles really won't see the use of omni-wheels, especially when the scale becomes based around speed of the vehicle, as the typical omni-wheel would create a rough ride and would more than likely have a fairly fast wear rate.
Omni-wheels are cool and all, but they just don't make sense outside of some specific uses. You'd have better luck creating a wheelchair replacement using legs, as even they'd be a lot more practical.
@@xaytana i dunno i think a wheel chair design but with 4 omni wheels atthe corners would be both interesting design wise and interesting for a pratical point as it owuld alow free movemernt
@@CuppaLLX It would still run into the same issues. Spherical wheels are just impractical in comparison to any other omni-wheel design, outside of one concept that's more than likely never to be realized within a reasonable frame of time. Using any other form of omni-wheel within an optimized layout and orientation would work, spherical wheels however are too problematic to be practical.
@@xaytana spherical wheels do have their own benefits though, like fewer, larger and more durable moving parts. most omni wheel designs have lots of moving components that need to work with 100% reliability, a wheelchair with 4 spherical omni wheels like these would be able to work fine if one of the drive motors failed completely. they wouldnt really need to be huge omni wheels either, maybe 4 football sized ones so they could be close enough together to fit through doors, a more raised and slightly more upright seating position with the option to sit more fully. it would be much more capable than a mobility scooter or regular electric wheelchair as long as gradients or slopes could be managed of course.
Well done! We also need a video of you riding this to the supermarket, through gregg’s, and in a park of some sort.
yes
What comes into mind when talking about omni-directional movement is some forklifts/picking up stuff and placing it in different spots with precision. But this would require some heavy rework of the chassis to support the load and counterweight on the other side.
But maybe something like attaching a grass mower in front for moving precisely how you want in your yard without manoeuvring back and forth on the lawn mowing tractor?
Zero-turns already do that better tbh. Making your zero-turn mower omnidirectional won't improve performance compared to cost given that lawns as a concept are already quite open and easily-maneuvered. Also, you'd need to make massive improvements to the weight and longevity of these wheels or else you'd be burning tons of extra gas to move wheels that are bigger and heavier than they have any reason to be.
I think adding in panniers/storage and maybe a small platform or table would be pretty neat, alongside making it much more usable for a convention or everyday use, assuming you're going to use it beyond what's shown in the the video lol
A go-kart bucket seat would be good for side-to-side stability, but I'd really love to see a comfy office chair on top, be the coolest guy in the office with a drivable wheelie chair
Might need some sort of suspension for a smooth ride on rougher surfaces.
If you can’t or don’t want to re-engineer the frame to add suspension, you could put a spring under the seat so at least you don’t feel all the vibrations from the wheels.
The seat can have the suspension, like 3 springs.
I would add a seat with foot rests that rotates independently from the wheel base. Like the chairs at a barber shop. Build the controls into the arm rests. Half the controls on one side and the rest on the other . Maybe use flight style joysticks . Install switches on the foot rests to rotate the chair left and right .
Also, install two controllable gatling guns over your shoulders and go battle Ivan Miranda. Keep this series going !
looking really good :D
all you need now is some extra weights and a camera arm and you have yourself a nice moving camera rig
The amount of engineering here is just absolutely staggering. Bravo!
It would be cool to see a steering wheel on it or some joysticks on the seat
I put my vote for joysticks! Having the front open helps see where you're driving and a steering wheel would block off the front unnecessarily imo
Twin joysticks on armrests, with lots of buttons and triggers and such
I have been watching this channel for a few years now and it amazes me how this man can design, print, and build all these crazy things in 2 weeks. Most youtubers take months to do something like this but not james.
That looks awesome, will you dare ride it in a crowd? You should make your other robots follow you around like a small flock of ducklings!
Up vote for make the robot following
Like others said, you definitely need a place for your feet. Are you able to face the other way on the vehicle so you could put foot rests or stirrups on either side of the back wheel? That would also allow you to have the emergency stop button in front of you between your legs instead of behind you.
So... When are you gonna super size the robot dog to make a robot horse?
High ho, Silver away!
This worked an aweful lot better than I anticipated. Experience and engineering prowess do pay off.
A pull cord, like on a speed boat or jet ski might be a good idea, judging by how keeps trying to pitch you off! A micro switch under the seat could do the job too.
yeah, some kind of deadman's switch definitely seems like a must!
I love how James is slowly turning into Colin Furze
Rock music, weird vehicles, more and more materials other than prints...
I would like to see Mr. Bean’s armchair. And you dressed up as Professor X
I'm definitely enjoying the addition of steel/welding etc in your creations. thanks for sharing
It definitely needs somewhere to put your feet. I can’t imagine it would feel to nice to have your let hit the wheels while in motion.
In terms of more “fun” attachments it would be really fun to have a multi directional “burst” cannon which would fire projectiles from 3 directions. I feel it would fit the theme well, but it would also be amazing to be spinning around having it fire and knock over everything
Either way, this is amazing!
Some suspension for variable terrain and minor bumps, along with seating, and maybe a more streamline control system. Essentially some polish to this great project, I'm surprised more of these ideas haven't been translated to more practical/commercial uses. Great work.
this is really cool but would you be able to drive it on a sidewalk or would it ruin the wooden parts rolling on it? great video!
Looks like an excellent foundation for a mobility device.
Use mentholated spirits as a coolant when you're cutting the aluminium, use a spiral flute cutter in tool steel with a slower travel speed and a greater depth of cut. You should be able to use a higher cutting speed.
my old dad always used parafin when cutting ally
_"mentholated spirits"_
Mmmm minty.
@@ferrumignis I love that stuff! Gletscher Eis, cheap Austrian tourist hooch, designed so Brit skiers can get alcohol poisoning with minty fresh breath...
Great job on this James! Looks like real fun.
Weekly videos with terrific quality and amazing engineering each time, imagine the work this dude does every week, I’m subbing he deserves it
I like how your projects are such a pain in the ass but you make it look so easy and fun, god bless
Having a detachable controller for it would e pretty cool, being able to hop on and plug the controller into a mount when you drive it, and then being able to get off and still drive it would be interesting
1. Seat
2. Stering wheel.
3. Feet-rest
4. Coverplates (For cleaner look)
5. Some rubber or similar material on the wheels to prevent damage on outdoor surfaces
6 Suspension for smoother rides.
Might want to add a safety key just in case you go flying off the seat! Maybe tied to your wrist and plugged into the remote. Just to make sure the robot doesn't run you over while you scramble for the e-stop :D
This was awesome. The fact that it rolls like that was really cool
This is awesome! Definitely needs a cup holder.
James, you are one of the most inspiring (and inspired) creators on the internet! You're a treasure to us all. Thank you for being you and for sharing all the details with us!
You are simply a mad genius. I have no other way to describe it.
i'm sure some messes were edited out but still amazing to see how cleanly everything came together for such a complex system
I only found out about you from mark rober’s bowling ball and now I enjoy the robotics genius that is you.
Amazing! Would love to see you going down the shops on that and the response of onlookers 😂
I feel like this has a lot of potential as an indoor mobility device for the disabled. The way it can turn to give you 360 degree access to an area without the need for a lot of space. Designing a seat for someone who does not have use of their legs would be a challenge though.
Nice, really cool project. Like seeing the ball wheels.
Totally love this vehicle James!
seriously talented engineering you are very inspiring to me : )
A seat, Foot rest, simple mounted controls (one joystick for forward/backward/left right, another input for spin/turn rate) still keep the remote as either an override or just alternative control
and a mount point for accessories. (ie, nerf Gatling gun or equivalent, Cargo box )
Well done! Definitely needs a seat and leg rest. Add a platform and integrate the controls to right hand directional joystick and left hand throttle. There is those college desk chairs with the small writing table that slides to the front from the side. Maybe add a suspension system for elevated terrain. You got yourself a light Mechwarrior.
And great job! Thanks for sharing these awesome videos and projects.
It's totally amazing to see all your engineering, coding and metal working skills come together!!
Bravo!!! This is straight-up amazing
Probably one of your best project! Looks funny to ride on
your movies are a treat, they help keep me going
Love where this is going!!
What an amazing project!
Looks super cool and happy to see it come together nicely!
Fantastic! Hoping to see you on it this weekend.
It looks absolutely amazing and is an incredible piece of technology and machinery.
I would recommend you put a bit of a crash bumper onto the lower part of each arm in order to account for clipping/crashing into stuff. something simple as a bit of a rubber or foam pad would work relatively well. Along with some form a outer shell around the frame especially the main electronics to protect them from impacts or just day to day use.
You've made an excellent prototype. Thanks for accomplishing what you've done in these two videos.
An insane amount of work right there
you have just remained the wheel chair sir. congratulations. Truly remarkable.
By the power of gray skull!!! I know you want to get to the meat of the video and you don't usually do a lot of editing games, but this momentary clip absolutely called for the use of a reverberation effect. Skeletor deserves no less
Look at that! You've created the most perfect wheelchair. A lot of people need this! Please find a way to mass produce it. Thanks
It is amazing what one can do having the correct tools.
Its even more amazing what can be done with the incorrect tools
I truly don't understand how James is producing so much great content filled with so much engineering every week.
This is very, very cool. I can see the Kickstarter already.
That's so cool!
Some ideas for seat additions: beverage cooler/holder, foot rests, perhaps a reclining seatback.
maybe a scissor lift if you want to be extra dangerous!
Salute James!!
Your work and videos make me want to get back into the shop I was building.
Medical issues stopped me then and now, but the "itch" to tinker again is strong.
This is awesome! Love it a lot! Fantastic engineering.
I mean, stick some panelling on the outside and you're basically a Dalek ;)
Very impressive work
That is cool as hell. Looks like the prototype to something practical. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this one
that empty space in the middle where the triangle's are can be used to hold a battery bank.
ofcourse include a charge controller. :D looks cool though
I'm curious to see how it would do on uneven terrain.. the way the wheels are made could give it tremendous grip on loose soil, or even to go over smallish obstacles....
great job as usual..
BRAKES! Especially a parking brake.
It's not the moving that is desirable, it's the stopping and position holding you really want.
Helps avoid those pesky suddenly crossing lamp posts, curbs, pillar boxes and bins.
And makes getting in or out so much easier.
Seat with seatbelts.
Bumpers.
Does it do hills. Up and down. Even the Netherlands aren't completely flat. The UK even more so.
You really got something here bud. A little smaller, a little more robust and that's the wheel chair of the future. Crazy cool. Good job and good luck.
This looks awesome - I could imagine this opening a whole new type of competitive sport with challenges based on the insane 2 dimensional maneuverability this thing has. I think bucket seat, foot rests/protectors, and some kind of cannon/shooter for accomplishing objectives would be really neat to see.
A saddle! A pivoting, saddle-controller that allows you to keep your hands free! Like sitting on a giant joystick! Set it up so you're almost standing and you could half-sit and push against foot pedals for balance. I wonder how subtle you could make the inputs? Maybe a foot-switch or two would be simpler.
That is unreal!!! Makes me initially think of Professor Charles Xavier ❤️
What channel makes you say, "but why?" more than this one?
Love it!
Honestly I subbed to you for the open dog robot series. But now i like this more...
Love the welding 👍
Huge Respect. JB.
This is one amazing Jamesmobile! You could turn it into Professor Xavier's comfy "hoverchair" ^_^ Good job!
these are the projects I want to see !!!!!! more life size projects please
I could see this in a tight and cramped depot or cargo bay with lots of storage racks. We ofcourse have forklifters with a tight turning circle but this would bring a forklifter or heavy lifting vehicle to another level.
James, long time fan I remember being young watching you build the hulk buster and ultron robot, now It’s crazy to see your hair getting gray, much love tho keep up the amazing work
Manual controls on the vehicle and of course some cool looking lights. Extra points would be given for an outer hull which still allows to partly see the mechanism.
Superbly magnificent! This is so awesome. Please go on.
Ótimo trabalho - Great job !!! Brazil 👏👏👏
Before adding a bucket seat, add a footrest to the vertex wheel, because if you add it to both vertexes (corners), the "vehicle" would become unbalanced and raise the back vertex wheel. I would add it to the area where the emergency stop button is, so you can reach down quickly to engage it instead of it being at the back.
Secondly, change the remote control to a flight stick and mount it to the side of your seat.
Thirdly, install a crescent roof with solar panels to charge your battery, and install a GoPro for FPV/dashcam.
Finally, add in suspensions (spring and shock absorbers) - easier to add to your seat rather than all wheels.
Now for some futuristic ideas:
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Add an arm like Doc Oct, from behind the seat.
Or add collapsable wings expanding from the back of your seat and the tips will rotate and expose mini BB canons.
This was cool as hell to see, great job making it! You should be very proud
Congrats on the Million subs James, I have to say you have gotten rather good with them radio control odd-looking robots, this ride-on buggy could very well use in many applications.