Balancing control of a single-wheel inverted pendulum system using air blowers: Evolution of Mechatronics capstone design

Inverted pendulum systems are one of typical control systems suitable for cross-disciplinary education. This article delivers the historical evolution of inverted pendulum systems as Mechatronics capstone design projects for undergraduate students. A wheeled inverted pendulum system is quite a challenging and interesting system to appeal students as a design project. Several design examples from two-wheel to one-wheel inverted pendulum system are elaborated. As a current design, a one-wheel inverted pendulum system which is our main contribution, is presented to deliver novel ideas of using air power to balance the system. The roll angle is regulated by air pressure generated from ducted fans while the pitch angle is controlled by a dc motor. Air pressure is controlled by linear control methods to keep the balancing in the roll direction. Experimental studies demonstrate the successful balancing performance.