The Wheelbot: A Jumping Reaction Wheel Unicycle

Combining off-the-shelf components with 3D- printing, the Wheelbot is a symmetric reaction wheel unicycle that can jump onto its wheels from any initial position. With non-holonomic and under-actuated dynamics, as well two coupled unstable degrees of freedom, provides challenging platform for nonlinear data-driven control research. This letter presents Wheelbot's mechanical electrical design, estimation algorithms, experiments $^\star$ demonstrating both self-erection disturbance rejection while balancing.