Students designing an omnidirectional sphere-wheeled electric motorcycle

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An early test rig shows the three-motor drive system in operation

The test rig is upscaled

The drive system is proved on a working test unit

The three-motor drive system can be seen clearly to the front of the test unit

Rendering of the SDS motorcycle with a transparent fairing

The fairing gets a touch of color to mask many of the motorcycle's components

Top view rendering of the SDS motorcycle

Battery boxes ready for the Lithium Iron Magnesium Phosphate batteries with a built-in BMS

The omniwheels prior to assembly

Close up of the six omniwheels that give the vehicle its potential to move in any direction

Grip is added for traction

Close up of the motor mounts

Testing the Animatics Smart motor ahead of drive system assembly

All the electric drive system components ahead of assembly, including the omniwheels made from zinc-coated 4130 steel

Close up of the three-motor drive system

Another view of the SDS motorcycle's three-motor drive system

The carbon fiber and fiberglass shells that form the front and rear spheres

The two halves of these shells were subsequently joined to form a sphere and then coated with a durable industrial rubber for traction

The rather shiny frame is fashioned from 304 stainless tubing, and there's suspension front and rear in the shape of Fox racing shocks

Another view of the frame

The vehicle's spheres are contained within the swingarms

The battery packs are installed and the SDS motorcycle is ready for the camera, but there's still a long way to go before it's operational

The vehicle is about 85 percent assembled in terms of hardware and about 20 percent done in terms of software and electrical

A group of students from the Charles W Davidson College Of Engineering at San Jose State University are working on an omnidirectional, self-balancing SDS electric motorcycle

Final rendering of the SDS electric motorcycle

The initial aim is to get the vehicle stable and in control at speeds up to about 10 mph but the designers say that, in theory at least, it could zoom up to 60 mph

The SDS electric motorcycle that rides on spheres instead of wheels and features self-balancing technology

The user will control the motorcycle just like any modern motorcycle with a throttle, leaning, and handlebars

There will also be a set of joysticks that will allow for additional maneuvers such as forward/reverse/side-to-side motions/spinning the vehicle

Article Summary

Thanks to gyros, accelerometers and sophisticated control mechanisms, remaining upright on a two-wheeled vehicle is no longer quite the balancing act it might once have been, even when at a standstill. Visions of future mobility like Honda's U3-X take such ideas in whole new directions, quite literally, by including multi-directional capabilities, and concepts such as Supple go even further still by ditching wheels altogether in favor of balls. It's this freedom of movement that inspired a group of students from the Charles W Davidson College Of Engineering at San Jose State University to begin work on the ambitious Spherical Drive System (SDS) electric motorcycle.

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