Stabilization of rigid bodies with frictional supports against dynamic perturbations

Quasi-static robots supported by multiple contacts and Coulomb friction may be overturned by unwanted, arbitrarily small vibrations, under certain geometric conditions. The exact criteria of passive local dynamic stability for perfectly rigid objects (a natural idealization of robots) are currently unknown. In the present paper, we propose a minimalistic, robust, model-independent active stabilization scheme of planar objects via the manipulation of friction forces by wheels and brakes. The potential extensions of the new method to global stabilization, and to three dimensions are also discussed.