A simple motion planner for a spherical mobile robot

Abstract

A spherical mobile robot that offers a number of advantages, is proposed. The success of our design is dependent upon development of simple control strategies for reconfiguration of the sphere. In this paper we address the open-loop control problem and present a simple strategy for reconfiguration. To bring the sphere to a desired position with a desired orientation, we use a specific kinematic model. Under this model, the motion of the sphere is comprised of straight lines and circular arcs for individual inputs. Our motion planner reconfigures the sphere using individual inputs, and as compared to existing motion planners, requires limited computation and provides the scope for easy implementation.