Spool Bot is a wheeled robot capable of navigating complex indoor environments.  It is made with empty filament spools, caster wheels from an old office chair, and some custom parts made on a 3D printer. It senses the environment using a depth camera and moves around using 2 standard servos. The brains are provided by an Arduino microcontroller and a laptop. The power for the robot comes solely from the laptop eliminating the need for external batteries.

So it may seem strange that a project devoted to bipedal robots would create a wheeled robot, but spool bot was created as a way to try out sensor and computing platforms for future bipedal robot prototypes.  It has the advantage of being able to heft heavy computers without having to balance on spindly legs.  Once Spool bot has helped identify a suitable combination of sensors then the job of shrinking and lightening the computer will be undertaken.