# Versatile Multidomain Robot Mobility Driven by High-Speed Unbalanced Rotors

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Clemson University (SC) · $641,775

## Abstract

This project investigates a variety of different robot locomotion that can be achieved using only fast unbalanced rotors for actuation. Preliminary experiments have demonstrated that such systems can be used to roll, jump, crawl, climb, swim, and fly. Initial analyses have connected different discrete modes of motion with special relationships between the amplitude of the rotor imbalance and the speed of the rotor spin. The project will extend understanding of these relationships, allowing the robot’s mechanical structure to be designed together with its control system, thus providing the ability to select between different mobility modes. The approach will be applied to robots made of multiple rigid components as well as robots made of soft materials. The spin dynamics of internal rotors can be easily and accurately controlled, suggesting that this approach may have practical advantages for ease of operation. The robots considered in this project have potential applications in defense, monitoring, exploration, and medicine. Inexpensive and mechanically simple robots designed in this project will be used as the basis for STEM outreach activities to high school students in upstate South Carolina.

The project will realize a framework for novel multidomain mobility through a deep understanding of novel mechanics. The approach will build upon the analysis of net inertial displacements corresponding to high frequency oscillations of shape variables on a configuration manifold i

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2433150
- **Awardee organization:** Clemson University (SC)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** H2BMNX7DSKU8
- **PI:** Phanindra Tallapragada
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** Artificial Intelligence (AI), ROBOTICS, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES
- **Estimated total:** $641,775
- **Funds obligated:** $641,775
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 09/01/2025 → 08/31/2028

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2433150

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2433150, Versatile Multidomain Robot Mobility Driven by High-Speed Unbalanced Rotors. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-07 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2433150. Licensed CC0.

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