Improving lateral stability of a motorcycle via assistive control of a reaction wheel

The aim of this project is to improve the lateral stability of a motorcycle via active control. A simplified nonlinear motorcycle model forms the plant. The control goals are defined as roll angle tracking and minimal control effort. The control has to cooperate with the rider, and this achieved using two different approaches: using a parallel reference model for the ideal behavior, or using the reaction wheel purely to improve the stability of challenging poles. Two different control design methodologies (linear optimal and H_∞ control) are tested on the nonlinear model. The designs are tested in simulation and verified against a plant formulation containing lumped uncertainties. Further work will concentrate on finding the most suitable controller and testing it on a prototype vehicle.