State transition, balancing, station keeping, and yaw control for a dynamically stable single spherical wheel mobile robot

Unlike statically stable wheeled mobile robots, dynamically stable mobile robots can have higher centers of gravity, smaller bases of support and can be tall and thin resembling the shape of an adult human. This paper concerns the ballbot mobile robot, which balances dynamically on a single spherical wheel. The ballbot is omni-directional and can also rotate about its vertical axis (yaw motion). It uses a triad of legs to remain statically stable when powered off. This paper presents the evolved design with a four-motor inverse mouse-ball drive, yaw drive, leg drive, control system, and results including dynamic balancing, station keeping, yaw motion while balancing, and automatic transition between statically stable and dynamically stable states.