Masaaki Kumagai lab BallIP

Masaaki Kumagai lab, Tohoku Gakuin University (Japan) BallIP (1)

Not for sale

Not for sale (research)Not programmableBallbotOmni-wheel driveCooperative transportResearch

Not for saleShipping: N/A.

Remote control: Not possible. A university research robot with no public interface.

Overview

The second major ballbot design, and the one that set the template most later ballbots copy, using three omni-wheels on a ball instead of CMU's rollers and yaw motor. Kumagai's group used several BallIPs to demonstrate carrying loads and cooperative transport. Its omni-wheel design with a continuous contact line was reused by ETH's Rezero.

Type: Rolling robot · Research & concepts
Maker: Masaaki Kumagai lab, Tohoku Gakuin University (Japan)
Released: 2008
Price: Not for sale
Status: Not for sale (research)
Best for: Professionals & labs
Programming: No programmability

Price and shipping

Shipping: N/A. A university research robot. Never sold.

Specifications

Category	Spherical & rolling · Research & concepts
Released	2008
Country	Japan
Availability	Not for sale (research)
Sales	Three BallIP units built by Kumagai's lab for cooperative carrying tests (2010) IEEE Spectrum ↗
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	None / scripted · Moves only when controlled, or plays preset motions
LLM support	None · No built-in LLM and no SDK to connect one.
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	Unknown
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Unknown
Remote control	Not programmable
Size	Not published (rides on a rubber-coated bowling ball)
Locomotion	Three custom omni-wheels driving the ball directly, which also controls yaw
Compute	Not published
Camera	None
Sensors	IMU, wheel encoders
Runtime	Not published
Speed	Not published
SDK	Lab-internal