Human Mobile Inverted Pendulum Transporter - a Mechatronic System Case Study

It is an inherent property of a mechatronic system that it involves several interacting sub-systems and the design process for such systems involves an in depth understanding of a number of engineering disciplines. A truly mechatronic design requires use of advanced models during the design procedure combined with the formulation and the solution of an optimization problem involving a number of constraints related to performance, costs, geometry, availability of components etc. In this paper, we present a case-study of a more traditional design procedure for a highly multi-disciplinary device, which nevertheless illustrates the potentials of unifying classical engineering technologies (mechanics, electronics, control systems) with modern high-efficient inverter-fed permanent magnet AC motors and the latest MEMS sensor technology. A full-scale fully operational prototype of a two-wheel mobile inverted pendulum has been built based on the presented design.