The Ringbot designed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, led by Associate Professor Joohyung Kim, is a monocycle robot prototype and it features two independent driving modules housed within its wheel body. These modules can control velocity and orientation even making full rotations within the wheel when necessary.
source.image: Global Update
Ringbot can travel at speeds exceeding three miles per hour and navigate independently without assistance for balancing or turning thanks to its integrated legs.
Ringbot’s unusual design was inspired by science fiction vehicles such as the vehicle General Grievous uses in Star Wars. Unlike the unicycle, where the rider sits above the wheel, the rider of the monocycle sits inside the wheel.
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For human riders, monocycles pose many challenges: the wheel is usually directly in the center of vision, and they can be tricky to turn and control at lower speeds. The Ringbot design avoids some of these pitfalls. The large wheel doubles as the body frame of the robot itself, while the integrated legs help the monocycle to balance and prevent falls.
