CMU's BallBot - Scientific Advancement or Just-Another-Robot?
On Friday CMU announced via press relase the creation of the "Ballbot" (original, I know). It's a robot that dynamically balances on one steel ball. It was picked up by several robot websites and was also featured on RocketBoom.That's all fine and good, until someone cries "fowl!"
I just want to note that they bought their own pre-assembled IMU. That takes nearly all of the challenge out of this project.
Theo goes on to say:
Don't believe me? Take a look at the papers. The entire control system is simple LQR. They've added some PI control to correct for some frictional effects, and both coefficients were tuned experimentally.
Translation: It's not that hard. A PI controller takes about four lines of code, and experimental tuning involves grunt work, not real science. Here is a link to the IMU they use.
While I'm not sure if I'd be as harsh as Theo is with them, I definitely don't think it was worth all the hype or the press release. Come on CMU, show a little humility!
Update: Theo, made some good comments below.
- Ballbot website
- Robotics Research Symposium paper (2005)
- IEEE Robotics And Automation Conf. paper (2006)
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