The review discusses the possibilities of different driving mechanisms and sensors of spherical robots, and a special kind of mobile robots is introduced and discussed. The sensors discussed can expand robots’ sensing capabilities which are typically very limited. Most spherical robots have holonomic characteristics and protect the inner environment using a shell. Today, there are a diversity of driving mechanisms. Therefore, this article provides a review of all of them and identifies their basic properties. Accordingly, many spherical robots have only inner sensors for moving, balancing, driving, etc. However, a few of them are also equipped with sensors that can measure environmental properties. Therefore, in this paper, we propose the possibility of using such sensors as cameras, LiDARs, thermocouples, and gas sensors, which can be used for special purposes underground, for example, in mines, underground tunnels, or road tunnels. After combining all components are combined, it is possible to design a special type of spherical robot designed for underground exploration, such as accidents in mines or road tunnels.

Arc furnaces, due to their high unit power and load nature, belong to the receivers affecting the power quality. A dynamically changing electric arc is the main source of disturbances generated by arc devices. This current article presents the results of model tests of disturbances caused by arc furnaces. It also presents the attempts to estimate the power supply conditions for arc furnaces, so that they do not generate unacceptable disturbances to the power system. Various models of the electric arc are proposed. The values of the elements making up the furnace supply system were based on actual parameters. In these networks, measurements of electricity quality indicators were carried out, which allowed us to refer to the obtained results of model tests with the real values. Accordingly, to the real conditions, the values of the short-circuit power of the network and the power of furnace transformers were also adopted in the tests.

The synthesis of a real-time model of the electric mode of an arc steelmaking furnace is shown. This model is based on the method of medium-voltage and can be used to analyze the impact of the arc steelmaking furnace on the supply network at different stages of the melting process at different control systems of the electromechanical electrode movement system, and to create model-predictive control systems of electrode movement, when control using hardware in the loop technology. To implement the chosen method, the dynamic arc resistance was used. The last was obtained on the basis of the averaged experimentally taken volt-ampere characteristics of the arc. In paper was proposed its approximation as a current function and arc length. The simulation results obtained using the created model for different operation modes of the arc steelmaking chipboard for a system with a traditional regulator of the electrode movement system are demonstrated.

Beginning with the classic methods, a mathematical model of an electromechanical system is developed that consists of a deep bar cage induction motor that, via a complex motion transmission with distributed mechanical parameters, drives a working machine, loading the drive system with a constant torque. The electromagnetic field theory serves to create the motor model, which allows addressing the displacement of current in the rotor cage bars. Ordinary and partial differential equations are used to describe the electromechanical processes of energy conversion in the motor. The complex transmission of the drive motion consists of a long shaft with variable geometry cardan joints mounted on its ends. Non-linear electromechanical differential equations are presented as a system of ordinary differential equations combined with a mixed problem of Dirichlet first-type and Poincaré third-type boundary conditions. This system of equations is integrated by discretising partial derivatives by means of the straight-line methods and successive integration as a function of time using the Runge–Kutta fourth-order method. Starting from there, complicated transient processes in the drive system are analysed. Results of computer simulations are presented in the graphic form, which is analysed.

From the point of view of the synthesis of control influences, arc steelmaking furnaces are complex nonlinear objects with strongly expressed mutual influences. It has been demonstrated that at a given supply voltage, the distribution of the current values of the phase currents in the quasi-steady-state mode makes it possible to estimate the situation in the arc space of an arc steelmaking furnace and identify the value of arc lengths. This dependence is preserved in transient modes. In order to identify arc lengths from the phase currents, it is proposed to use an approach based on the theory of fuzzy sets. The construction of the fuzzy arc length identifier rule base was carried out in two stages: the first stage used data from quasi-steady-state modes and the Wang–Mendel algorithm; the second stage involved adding a new rule to the database if the activity level of the formed rules was lower than the established level α for the data obtained in the dynamic mode. Further optimization of the parameters of the fuzzy identifier for operation in dynamic modes was carried out using the “back-propagation” algorithm. Based on the identified values of arc lengths, a control system for the movement of electrodes in an arc steelmaking furnace was synthesised. The proposed control system makes it possible to eliminate unproductive electrode movements due to changes in the situation in other phases of the arc steelmaking furnace and simplifies the application of modern methods of synthesising a control system for such complex objects. The results obtained in the mathematical model have confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed control system for the movement of electrodes in an arc steelmaking furnace.