ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab focus project, with ZHAW and ZHdK (Switzerland) Rezero (1)

Not soldStudent focus project.

Not for sale (research)Not programmableFast ballbot3.5 m/sROSResearch

Not soldShipping: N/A. A one-off university project; never sold.

Remote control: Not possible. A one-off student research robot.

Wikipedia (Ballbot) ↗maxon application report (2010) ↗Project site (archived) ↗

Overview

A 2010 ETH Zurich student ballbot built to show how fast and graceful a ballbot can be, rather than just that it can balance. It reached 3.5 m/s and had a 'breathing' shell that could lower over the ball to park.

Specifications

Category	Spherical & rolling · Research & concepts
Released	2010
Availability	Not for sale (research)
Programmability	No programmability
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	Sonar / ultrasonic
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	Microphone
Compute type	Unknown
Remote control	Not programmable
Size	19.5 kg with casing (14.5 kg without)
Locomotion	Three maxon EC-4pole 200 W motors driving custom omni-wheels on a rubber-coated aluminum sphere
Compute	Real-time low-level computer plus a Linux high-level computer running ROS
Camera	None published (laser and ultrasonic ranging)
Sensors	160 Hz IMU with compass, laser distance sensors, ultrasonic sensors (~6.5 m, 360°), surround microphones, encoders
Runtime	~5 h
Speed	Up to 3.5 m/s (12.6 km/h); 3 m/s² acceleration; 20° max lean
SDK	Team-internal (joystick, MATLAB trajectory planning, ROS)