Forested terrains and mudflats surrounded by water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and swamps are difficult to maneuver around, especially for man-made automations and robots. The lack of reliable robotic platforms often hinders
operations such as search-and-rescue, surveillance, and research efforts made in these terrains. Whereas most developments are focused on improving maneuverability on either land or water, little has been done in developing robotic platforms with amphibious capability. To address this design gap, an amphibious spherical rolling robot design is proposed.
A spherical rolling robot is advantageous in terms of its selfrighting
capability, balancing capability, and minimum damage to the surroundings during its mobilization. The proposed design contains a battery-powered fixed two-axis pendulum for the robots powertrain, which provides the robot with its selfrighting capability. Two modular live-feed cameras are inserted
to provide live-streaming capability, both of which can be easily replaced with other relevant sensors if needed. A custommade 3D-printed sleeve is designed to improve the robot’s propulsion on both land and water. Most of the robot’s design features are highly modular, facilitating customization
depending on the user’s needs. With these configurations, the final prototype exhibited a high degree of maneuverability on both land and water. The live-streaming capability was proven with a video recording from the robot’s cameras when deployed. In addition to it, a GPS module was mounted on for updating of its live position of the ball to the ground base station via Google Maps on the web browser. Information such as the location and directional heading will then be known to the user.

With Singapore being a maritime nation, this robot could be extensively used for patrols, marine biology research on the coral reefs or monitoring marine wild life such as dolphin activities. In addition to that, the robot could too be controlled with swarm and be used for mass deployment as part of search and rescue mission as part of a cheaper alternative in an event of a disaster.