He built a motorcycle with one giant ball

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Imagine being stuck in a traffic jam, but your motorcycle can spin 360° on the spot. How satisfying would that feel?

[00:00:06]This isn't science fiction, but a crazy invention created by British engineer James Bruton. The most unique thing about this motorcycle is that its wheels are made from two giant spheres. Above each sphere are two powered wheels and one support wheel that control the spheres movement, letting the bike slide in any direction. To keep the two spheres balanced while moving, each one has an opening that can be filled with sand, allowing the center of gravity to be adjusted for better stability.

[00:00:29]Combined with a self-balancing system he designed himself, even if an outside force pushes the bike off balance, the motors can react almost instantly to bring it back upright. With this bike, you could casually ride a few laps even inside a small living room at home.

[00:00:42]Later, to make the bike smaller, James improved the design into a version that uses only a single sphere. In this version, the sphere is supported by three omni wheels arranged in an equilateral triangle. The surface of these wheels is covered with lots of tiny rollers, allowing the sphere to roll in any horizontal direction without the wheels needing to change their own orientation. Combined with sensors that constantly detect the tilt angle and software that adjusts the bike's posture in real time, the machine was finally able to stand steadily and move in any direction using just a single sphere as its base.