B2, an alternative two wheeled vehicle for an automated urban transportation system

This paper describes the preliminary control work on a two-wheeled vehicle called B2 whose wheels belong to the same geometric axes. Closed-loop control is necessary because the passengers stand above the wheels, so that B2 behaves like an inverted pendulum. Using a simple model, two different control laws are compared. The first uses standard linear control techniques to achieve dynamic stability. Its most notable characteristic is that it stabilizes the vehicle inclination about the dynamic equilibrium by minimizing motor effort. A second control law approach, named PDC (parallel distributed compensation), is then investigated. This control law uses a fuzzy model and is another way of stabilizing the cabin angle and controlling the vehicle´s speed. Simulations presented show the effectiveness of each control method.