Spherical drive motorcycle being developed by engineering students [w/video]

A group of engineering students at San Jose University have cooked up an ambitious senior project. Max Ratner, Henry Li and Andrew Parmar came up with the concept of applying an omnidirectional drive system to the motorcycle world during a brainstorming session a little over a year ago. Inspired by the self-balancing technology found in the Segway personal transport and a balancing robot developed in Tokyo, the trio of mechanical engineering students settled on applying the same principles to a motorcycle device as a proof of concept. The idea went through a number of evolutions before settling on the design you see here with two massive spheres enclosed in a tube cage.

The spheres are controlled via three electric motors that provide small inputs to keep the rig upright via some clever software. The result is a machine with a zero turning radius that anyone one can ride regardless of skill level or physical handicap. The bike can immediately change direction to move perpendicular to the previous path of travel, but Ratner, Li and Parmar want to make it clear that they aren't out to revolutionize the way vehicles travel.

"This is more of a proof of concept," Parmar said. "We want to show that something like this is actually possible."

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