On: Japan's zero-gravity space drone sends first pictu...

[e12e]

What if the wheels aren't centered? You could probably not get linear movement - but couldn't you rotate around a point other than the center?

..a...b..

Rotate ~180 degrees around a, then b?

[ed: from other comments I see I may be too used to thinking in a gravity constrained environment..?]

[mistercow → e12e]

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure wherever you put the wheels, you aren't going to get the drone to rotate about any point other than its center of mass.

[e12e → mistercow]

Makes sense, when thinking of it like a force - any where you push at the exterior (or interior) that's not directly at the center, would cause rotation around the center. I gather internal forces would add up/cancel out and never end up in a vector that pushes on the center of mass.