On the linear Active Disturbance Rejection Control of the inertia wheel pendulum

In this article, an Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) scheme, using a Generalized PI disturbance observer based control is applied to the stabilization problem of the Inertia wheel pendulum. The control scheme assumes a limited knowledge of the underactuated system and relies on a simplified model regarded as a perturbed chain of two integrators with a stable zero dynamics. The control scheme is experimentally tested, showing good performance. A comparison study with respect to a linear control scheme is also carried out.