This way, I just had to detach the wheel frames, fold the board up, and cover with bubble wraps when shipping. To continue working on this project during summer vacation when I flied back to Korea, I carefully designed the board to be foldable to make overseas shipping easier.

So I changed into Foamex board supported by PVC pipes which was much lighter and stronger. I built the body out of MDF board at first, but it proved to be too heavy. The 170-RPM Econ Gear Motor directly connected to sphere's shaft takes care of driving the wheel and controlling the speed.ĭesigning the body was relatively simple, as it was simply a rectangular board supporting the wheel frames. The HS-785HB servo with a built-in gearbox on the top controls the wheel’s direction by turning the motor's entire rectangular structure. I used a 60mm EVA-foam ball as wheels since they were light yet sturdy enough to support the vehicle. I designed the frame to house two separate motors, each controlling speed and direction, to steer and drive the wheels independently from others. Instead, I implemented a 4 Wheel Independent Steering/Driving (4WIS/D) system: a steering system for a four-wheeled vehicle that allows for separate speed and direction controls for each wheel.Īfter an initial sketch of the wheel's frame, I modeled the same design in Fusion 360. Unfortunately, I was a bit under-qualified to suspend wheels in mid-air with electromagnets, as many sci-fi movies suggested. The finished algorithm is going through a patent process as of October 2020…Īs I mentioned above, ORBITRON is a vehicle with spherical wheels, hence the name 'ORB'itron.

After presenting a project proposal in front of Kent Pre-Engineering Department, Project Orbitron was granted with $1,000 fund. The project began as a simple yet powerful urge to build a vehicle with spherical wheels after being inspired by Goodyear 360 but soon evolved into a research project under Kent Guild, academic society at Kent School, after realizing vehicle's potential. Project Orbitron is an independent build/research project featuring a vehicle with spherical wheels named ORBITRON and a unique control algorithm.

A 4WIS/4WID Vehicle with Spherical Wheels & A unique control algorithm in Mathematica

Orbitron software arduino