ATOM is an omnidirectional mobility platform designed to use spherical wheels for locomotion. Spherical wheels are ideal for omnidirectional ground mobility due to their isotropic surface geometry which allows them to instantaneously roll in any direction with ease. Spherical wheels also have the added benefit of being able to traverse over a wide range of ground terrains, including soft and loose surfaces which are problematic for other types of specialized wheels typically used for omnidirectional vehicles.

ATOM was a precursor to the magnetically coupled ball drive I worked on for my PhD dissertation.

I worked with the student teams listed below to develop and test a number of prototypes for ATOM.