https://english.news.cn/20241214/5851319e2cac46e4af3165a774dc0ea9/c.html

https://x.com/dw_chinese/status/1868293358386286995

In Wenzhou, a squad of special police officers was seen patrolling the streets, with a spherical robot steadily advancing beside them.

The 160-kilogram globe with a diameter of 0.8 meters is a combat-capable robot designed for close-quarters engagements, including anti-terrorist operations, capable of reaching 30 kilometers per hour in a swift 2.5 seconds and being mounted with police equipment. The internal pendulum of the spherical robot, powered by a motor, oscillates around the sphere’s core in a full-range motion, enabling the robot to roll in any specified direction with good balance with minimal friction, eliminating the need for extra stabilization. It offers better energy efficiency than legged robots, capable of operating continuously for 10 hours or traveling 120 kilometers.

The spherical robot is distinguished by its sealed design that protects the electronics within, thus enabling it to maneuver effortlessly on both land and water. The machine features a glass fiber-reinforced polymer shell that maintains the sealed environment and enables operation down to minus 30 degrees Celsius. Also, it is impact-resistant up to 4 tonnes to withstand drops from heights of up to 1 meter without damage, according to Wang.

The robot was initially designed to traversing the surface of Mercury, a planet with extreme temperature variations due to its proximity to the Sun. The designers have now established a startup called Rotunbot in Hangzhou,  Zhejiang Province. Rotunbot posts as corporate slogan on its official website: “From Mercury to Earth, we make fiction real.”