diy balancing robot rocks, rolls, then falls
filed under: just plain fun | robotics
August 16th, 2008 post a comment (5) stumble it! digg it! by: karen
This guy made a sweet little DIY balancing robot that balances without the help of fancy gyroscopes. It’s kind of like a poor man’s version of the Segway-esque A.M.P.bot, the main difference being that this one falls down a lot.
The robot uses a “simple switch as a sensor and stands on only two wheels with inverted pendulum mechanism. When the robot is going to fall the motor starts and moves the robot to the direction it is going to fall, so the motor torque about the center of gravity that is higher than the motor makes the robot balanced.” Check out this video to see it in action.
The maker helpfully put up a tutorial in case you’re inspired to make one of your own! Although I’m not sure why you’d do that, other than to mess with your cat or something.
[via Make:]
August 16th, 2008 post a comment (5) stumble it! digg it! by: karen
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5 comments post a comment
1. Bebo skinz | August 16th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Thats cool as anything, its a shame that it will always eventually fall. The delay in thinking time means that it will always progressively get more out of balance. Really like it through, great robot.
2. mike | August 17th, 2008 at 4:10 am
I suspect you could make one that balanced just fine. The key issues would be the:
- control system (which ‘order’ the control loop is; analog rather than simple on/off motor control (that this one looks like))
- motor characteristics - specifically torque and how rapidly it can change directions
I would hope someone else looks at this one and whips one up to show it is quite possible.
3. ZIM | August 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am
It needs a gyro.
4. Mitra | August 17th, 2008 at 10:57 am
My guess is that the robot overcompensates rendering it dynamically unstable. Perhaps reducing the proportional response constant(’k’ from simple control theory) in the control circuit could help.
Of course it could be a problem with the response time of the circuit/motor.
5. RyanB | August 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
@ Mitra — Yes, I agree, the control system is still not yet tuned. Assuming the torque of the motor is high enough, and the response is quick enough, this could be made more stable. Even a notable delay in response time could potentially be overcome with critical dampening and a high enough torque.
The fact that this little guy is top heavy is actually a benefit since that means the center of gravity is high and the robot will pivot around that point. It should be much easier to maintain balance with this design, than if the batteries were housed closer to the wheels.
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diy balancing robot rocks, rolls, then falls