Kazuki Abe and colleagues from Yamagata University and Tohoku University in Japan created a mind-bending gear shaped like a sphere that drives three rotational degrees of freedom without slippage.
The active ball joint mechanism (ABENICS) uses two different gears, a cross spherical gear and a monopole gear on a quadrature tooth structure of the spherical gear.
Published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, the researchers noted that ABENICS can transmit both high torque and reliable positioning without an orientation sensor, and can be used in robot joints.
Fascinating to watch!