This Omni-Directional Monoball Scooter Is Like Riding A Trackball Mouse From 2003

Motorcycles are a lot of fun to ride, but what if they were harder to control and somehow even more dangerous? We've already seen the four-wheeled omni-directional motorcycle from inventor James Bruton, and his sensational follow up, the self-balancing omni-directional orb bike, which proves that wheels are for dorks. As it turns out, that second ball was superfluous, and James decided to cut it down to just one. Why have two contact surfaces when you can have just one? That's bound to be more efficient! 

Of course, balancing around a single spherical point is quite a difficult task, so Bruton was forced to engineer a new solution for his self-inflicted problem. Much of this upside-down rideable trackball mouse is, of course, 3D-printed. There are a few laser-cut metal pieces, and lots of little bearings for the roller wheels, but all of the red and grey components came off of a printer. That makes this whole process even more impressive. I can't even make non-running my motorcycles move, and they were designed by real engineers. This guy can print a monoball scooter from scratch? Preposterous! 

Engineering and science simply can't exist in the lab alone. So thankfully, Bruton was able to get this whole contraption out for some testing in what appears to be a local primary school gymnasium. And in a controlled environment like this, the ball-balance-bike seems to do pretty well. While it was designed with a throttle and brake, he finds both to be a little difficult to manage, and prefers to just rock his weight around to change the ball's direction, a bit like how a balance scooter works. This project is so close to perfect, but it still has a few bugs to get worked out. 

Okay, so it doesn't steer properly yet, but who needs to steer when you look as cool as this? The original plan was to be able to steer the monoball by shifting bodyweight, but that instantly proved fruitless. (There probably won't be any Marc Marquez-style dragging knee moves on this thing.) Bruton then experiments with using some large aero-affecting steering mechanisms, also known as some foam board hot glued to a stick of wood — pretty low-tech, but it works to change his direction. While there is more yet to be done in order to get the ball to steer (perhaps a couple of small 12v blower fans), that'll have to wait for a future installment.

For now, I'm just happy to see a rideable omnidirectional monoball actually function. Solving this particular problem isn't exactly a hotbed of engineering strength right now, but if it ends up working really well, I could see this being a neat form of rideable electric mobility device. Sure, it doesn't really have suspension or precision steering, but it looks interesting, and that's what really matters, isn't it? 

If you're looking for a new contraption that will get you around in a city, while one-upping the guy on a one-wheel or a self-balancing unicycle, this might be the machine for you. It may take a few years of iterative design, but Bruton seems like the kind of person who will eventually problem-solve this and get the ball bike to a balance point where it doesn't crash. Personally, I think the ball needs to be inside of a cage so only the bottom third of it is unencumbered and I would add three more ball-rolling wheels to provide more fine control and better directionality. Genius.