A human-size robot balancing on a ball that acts as a spherical wheel can push wheelchairs as smoothly as a human assistant – and may carry out this caregiving task better than many humanoid robot helpers that walk on two legs.
The so-called ballbot was first developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania in 2004. In its latest form, it has the capability to manoeuvre a wheelchair indoors with minimal bumpiness for the wheelchair user. As such, it shows how robots could someday help some of the many people who may require a wheelchair – which might include about 10…
source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2429653-ball-balancing-robot-could-assist-wheelchair-users/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=technology
