Are Ball Shaped Wheels Practical?
James Bruton James Bruton
1.23M subscribers
862,380 views
0

 Published On May 17, 2021

Get your first 10 PCBs for free at https://www.pcbway.com/

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?

I made my own prototype with 3D printing, in both rigid PLA and TPU. Each hemisphere rotates around a smaller wheel which is oriented with the main drive axle.

Part 2:    • Testing Ball-Shaped Wheels on an Omni...  
Osaka Uni video:    • Omni-Crawler Drives In All Directions...  

You can support me on Patreon or buy my Merchandise:
***************************
Patreon:   / xrobots  
Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/james-br...
***************************

Affiliate links - I will get some money of you use them to sign up or buy something:
***************************
Matterhackers 3D printing supplies: http://www.matterhackers.com?aff=7500
Music for your YouTube videos: http://share.epidemicsound.com/xrobots
***************************

Other socials:
***************************
Instagram:   / xrobotsuk  
Facebook:   / xrobotsuk  
Twitter:   / xrobotsuk  
***************************

CAD and Code for my projects: https://github.com/XRobots

Huge thanks to my Patrons, without whom my standard of living would drastically decline. Like, inside out-Farm Foods bag decline. Plus a very special shoutout to Lulzbot, Inc who keep me in LulzBot 3D printers and support me via Patreon.

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE

Below you can also find a lot of the typical tools, equipment and supplies used in my projects:

Filament from: https://www.3dfuel.com/
Lulzbot 3D Printers: http://bit.ly/2Sj6nil
Lincoln Electric Welder: https://bit.ly/2Rqhqos
CNC Router: https://bit.ly/2QdsNjt
Ryobi Tools: http://bit.ly/2RhArcD
Axminster Micro Lathe: http://bit.ly/2Sj6eeN
3D Printer Filament: http://bit.ly/2PdcdUu
Soldering Iron: http://bit.ly/2DrNWDR
Vectric CNC Software: http://bit.ly/2zxpZqv

Why not join my community, who are mostly made up of actual geniuses. There’s a Facebook group and everything:   / 287089964833488  

XROBOTS

Former toy designer, current YouTube 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.

show more

Share/Embed