Experimental Demonstration of a General Balancing Controller on an Untethered Planar Inverted Double Pendulum

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the practical performance of a new theory of balance control that has been shown in simulation to out-perform earlier balance control theories in the sense of allowing the robot to make larger and faster movements while still maintaining its balance. The case studied here is that of a general planar double inverted pendulum, which resembles a legged robot's behaviour when the polygon of support shrinks to a line. The results show the speed and accuracy of the controller, as well as its robustness to external disturbances and slipping during fast movements.