A Highly Maneuverable Hybrid Energy-Efficient Rolling/Flying System

Abstract

Spherical robots are typically comprised of an actuation unit enclosed by a spherical shell. Among nonholonomic systems, spherical robots offer the best maneuverability and lowest energy consumption (due to their omnidirectional movement and single contact point with the ground). This allows them to traverse rough and uneven terrains. Further, using their ability to roll on the ground, they can provide a significantly higher operating time compared to aerial-only robots. Unfortunately, these robots are under-emphasized by researchers compared to other robots (i.e., legged or wheeled robots). Additionally, despite their potential to be used in a multitude of real-world applications, spherical robots have not been successfully adopted by the industry. This is due to the lack of controllability and traversability of the developed designs. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid rolling/flying robot. This design benefits from a flywheel to reduce the effects of the terrain (shocks and vibrations) on the camera and sensors. Our design allows the application of existing control algorithms of drones (such as PX4) on a rolling system. In addition, we propose a dynamics model that can use the point cloud representation of the terrain to simulate the motion of the system with applications in real-time modeling and control.