A Spherical Roving Robot Designed To Detect And Report
Intruders Has Been Developed By A Swedish Start Up Company. The Design Was
First Developed with Planetary (Outer space) Exploration In Mind, At The Angstrom
Space Technology Center, Part Of Uppsala University, Sweden. But Rotundus,
Formed In December 2004 Plan To Market The Ball-Shaped Bot As An Automated
Security Guard. We Knew It Would Have Applications on Earth, Says Company CEO
Nils Hulth. It Is Very Robust When Compared To Robots That Use Wheels Or Tracks
And Can Travel Through Mud Or Even Snow. It Is Propelled By A Pendulum
Suspended From An Axis Inside The Casing, Controlled By A Motor. Moving The
Pendulum Forwards Causes The Robot To Roll Along, But The Pendulum Swing From
Side To Side Can Be Also, Giving The Robot The Ability To Steer Left And Right.
An Animation Also Available On The Website Illustrates The Locomotion Mechanism
Rotundus In Action
