s driven by three "omni-wheels" which are propelled by three electrical motors. On the top, you see the body with all the computers on it and the battery, which is the heaviest part of all, is at the top, because it's easier to balance a long stick on your hand than a small pen."
The ballbot, which weighs around 30 pounds, can run smoothly on any kind of ground as long as it is flat. Doessegger says it has near-human reactions, and it can be programmed to follow people, keep a set distance, or respond to a prod.
"It can manage some minor obstacles and even minor slopes, but it can't go off road, for example, because it would lose contact with the floor."
The Zurich ballbot is not the only or even first robot to move this way, but Roland Siegwart, Professor and Vice President of Research and Corporate Relations at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, says this design is the fastest and most agile so far.
"The concept is not new. It was built on a similar inspiration from other work in Japan and in the United States, but what the students did is really to have a full system approach where the designed mechanical system is improved with the control, and all the sensor systems are equipped. And by doing it like this, they were able to have much higher performance, higher speed, higher acceleration, more agility of the system."
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
将本页收藏到：
上一篇：广播听力: Stronger Anti-Desertification Efforts Urged in China
下一篇：广播听力: Youngsters' Prospects Threatened by Past Indiscretions
Copyright ©2006-2007 www.Hxen.com All Rights Reserved