A Novel Nonlinear Controller Design for the Inertia Wheel Pendulum

Abstract

This paper considers the stabilization problem of inertial-wheel pendulum, a widely studied nonlinear mechanical system. Inertial wheel pendulum is classical example of a flat underactuated mechanical system. The design of control laws for underactuated mechanical systems are challenging because of their underactuated nature, posing problems in exact feedback linearization. A novel nonlinear controller design for inertial wheel pendulum is presented. The design procedure is simpler and more intuitive than already presented designs. Stability of the controller and advantages over existing energy shaping, backstepping and conventional dynamic surface technique based controllers are analyzed theoretically and verified using numerical simulations.