A Novel Spherical Robot Featuring Rolling and Hexapodal Locomotion

A novel spherical robot prototype capable of efficient locomotion is presented in this paper, and its promising potential for diverse application scenarios is demonstrated. The proposed design has dual locomotion modes integrated: hexapod walking and spherical rolling, which can be adaptively selected according to operational environments and task requirements. The prototype is featured with a transformable structure where conventional hexapod gaits are enabled by six articulated legs at the bottom, while these legs can be reconfigured into a spherical shell during rolling mode. The spherical locomotion is driven by a top-mounted motor, and directional control is enabled through center-of-mass adjustment by an internal counterweight mechanism. Detailed mechanical design principles, mode transition mechanisms, and experimental validation results are systematically presented.