Meet SIMbot: Electronics make this robot glide on a ball

Instead of mechanics, the motor relies on electronics and software, so the only moving parts are the ball and the robot's body. Streamlining a robot's design can cut back on maintenance and repairs by eliminating any extra parts that could break. Even better, transitioning from mechanical to electronic parts simplifies design and could also save money. "Electronics and software are getting cheaper every year, but mechanical things are not," Ralph Hollis, a research professor in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, tells ZDNet. Hollis invented the ballbot, a robot that moves more gracefully than most machines, since its body glides along a single ball.