Experimental realization of the Furuta pendulum to emulate the Segway motion

TL;DR

This paper presents an experimental setup that emulates Segway motion using a modified Furuta pendulum with an added pendulum, employing LMI control to coordinate their movements and demonstrate Segway-like behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental platform combining two coupled pendulums to mimic Segway dynamics, validated through control design and experimental results.

Findings

Successful emulation of Segway motion with the pendulum system

Control strategy effectively maintains pendulums near upright positions

Experimental validation confirms the feasibility of the approach

Abstract

A Laboratory device is designed to emulate the Segway motion, modifying the Furuta pendulum experiment. To copy the person on the Segway transportation unit to the Furuta pendulum, a second pendulum is added to the main one. Using LMI theory, the control objective consists to manipulate the base of the Furuta pendulum according to the inclination of the added pendulum whereas the coupled pendulums are maintained near to theirs upright positions. According to the inclination of the second pendulum, the base will rotate as long as the second pendulum remains inclined, emulating the Segway behavior. The base rotation will depend on the side of the inclination too. Experimental results are offered too (video link: http://youtu.be/SHQdW3k3qiE).