Centrifugal force compensation of a two-wheeled balancing robot

Dynamically balancing, two-wheeled robots with high centers of gravity have been researched over the past few years in order to tackle the restrictions of robots in human environments. These robots are designed to have the same dimensions as humans and be able to actively maintain stability. However these systems are only able to compensate in the fore-aft directions and are limited to slow motions when turning in order to prevent tipping due to centrifugal forces. In this paper we present a two-wheeled balancing robot whose body is an actuated four-bar linkage that can be used to lean. This allows it to control the position of its center of mass in the sideways direction. An overview of the robot concept is presented, and controllers are designed to balance, turn, and lean. Results are presented in dynamic simulation.