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1.Introduction
The bicycle robot (or the riderless bicycle) is a naturally
unstable system and the primary obstacle for its
functional realization is its unexpected falling over.
Traditionally there are two means to keep a bicycle
robotsbalance.
thebicyclefellleftorright,bydrivingtheloadmassright
or left correspondingly, the robot system can recover to
upright travel because its gravity centre has been
regulatedbytheloadmassmovement.Differingfromthe
mass design in [2], the researchers in [3, 4] focused on a
rotationalpendulumbalancerintheirwork.Theyinsisted
that, due to momentum conservation, the rotation of the
balanceroppositetothetiltingdirectioncouldgeneratea
regulating torque to compensate for the falling torque
inducedbythegravityforce.In[56],aprototypesultra
lowspeed standing is well performed. In [7], the
researcher presented two symmetric mechanical
regulators,namelyarotationalbarandflywheel,toadjust
his riderless bicycles leaning angle. He suggested the
advantage of his design: when the symmetric bar or
flywheel rotated, the bicycles mass distribution should
not be changed, thus it would be easier for his system to
maintain balance. In [8], the researchers also adopted a
flywheelregulatorintheirdesign,butwhatamazedusis
that they achieved their robots stable balance in a
physical experiment under zero velocity. The most
exciting example of flywheelbased bicycle robot may be
the Murata Boy robot in [9], because the robot can stand
still,trackacurveandclimbaslope,asifbymagic.
Adeficiencyinmechanicalregulatorbasedbicyclerobots
is that the regulators may somewhat increase the
complexityofthesystemsmechanismandcontrol,which
disagrees with the original intention of a simple design
forbicyclerobots.Anotherdisadvantagemaybethelack
ofafailsafecapability,i.e.,iftheextraregulatorsfail,the
robotswouldbedisabledfromtheirnormalworkdueto
their over dependence on the functional action of the
regulators. While for the frontbarbased bicycle robots,
the main problem may be that there is not sufficient
evidence to prove this kind of bicycle can perform the
same balanced motions as well as the regulatorbased
ones. At this time there are no research groups (using
theoretical analysis or experiment) who have ever
performed the trackstand motion and circular motion
without the use of mechanical regulators when the
bicyclerobotsrunsatzeroforwardspeed.
1 2 3
O e e e is the global coordinate system, which is
fixedontheground
-
(3) (3) (3)
3 1 2 3
O e e e is the coordinatesystemof the front
bar and its origin is the intersection point of the
framesaxisandthefrontbarsaxis
-
(4) (4) (4)
4 1 2 3
O e e e is frontwheels coordinate system
andtheoriginisitsgeometriccentre
(a)
(b)
Figure 1. Prototype and its schematic diagram of a frontwheel
drive bicycle robot, which is free of mechanical regulators.
(a)Experimentalprototypeconfiguration.(b)Schematicdiagram
andcoordinatesettingsofthebicyclerobot.
We suppose the bicycle robot runs on a level ground,
thustheframesangularvelocityvectorcanbegivenas
(1) (1)
B1 2 1 1 3
q q = + e e (1)
As shown in Fig.1(b), plane
(4) (4)
2 3
e oe coincides with
plane
(1) (1)
1 3
e oe ,forthisreason,thefrontwheelsangular
velocitycanbecalculatedas
(4)
B4 B1 6 2
q = + e ,(2)
Thefrontwheelisassumedtorunonthegroundwithout
slipping,sothevelocityof
4
O isgivenas
B4 B4 1
u = r
(
1
r isthepositionvectorof
B
P in
(4) (4) (4)
4 1 2 3
O e e e ).Onthe
other hand,
4
O is assumed to rotate around the
A
P
vertical line, so we also have
B4 B1 2
u = r (
2
r is the
position vector of
4
O in
(1) (1) (1)
1 1 2 3
O e e e ). From the two
expressions, we can obtain
1 2 6
q Aq Bq = + ( A and B are
functions of the systems geometric parameters). As a
summary, we can represent
B1
,
B4
and
B4
by
2
q
and
6
q .
T
k1 B1 1 B1
T T
k2 B4 2 B4 B4 2 B4
E / 2
E ( M ) / 2
= +
J
J
(3)
where
1
J is the inertial matrix of the combination solid
madeoftheframe,rearwheelandfrontfork;
2
M and
2
J
denote the mass and inertial matrix of the frontwheel,
respectively.
Inthepreviousanalysis,westatedthat
1
q isafunctionof
2
q and
6
q . For this reason, the systems total kinetic
energy
k
E can also be explicitly calculated from
2
q and
6
q .
p 1 2
E M ghcosq = .(4)
where
1
M denotes the total mass of the combination
solidmadeoftheframe,rearwheelandfrontbar.
0
t
(
=
(
where
ij
M and
i
F ( i, j 1, 2 = ) are the quantities which
relatetosystemskineticparametersand
2 2
11 1 2 2 2 3
M 2(Z cos q Z sin q Z ) = + + ,
2 2
12 21 4 2 5 2 6
M M (Z cos q Z sin q Z ) = = + + ,
2 2
22 7 2 8 2 9
M 2(Z cos q Z sin q Z ) = + + ,
2 2
1 2 2 1 2 2 7 2 8 2 6
F (Z sin2q Z sin2q )q (Z sin2q Z sin2q )q = +
3 Yonghua Huang, Qizheng Liao, Lei Guo and Shimin Wei: Balanced Motions Realization for a Mechanical
Regulators Free and Front-Wheel Drive Bicycle Robot Under Zero Forward Speed
www.intechopen.com
1 2
M ghsinq ,
2
2 5 2 4 2 2 8 2 7 2 2 6
F (Z sin2q Z sin2q )q (Z sin2q Z sin2q )2q q = +
2
1 zz1
Z J A / 2 = ,
2
2 yy1
Z J A / 2 = ,
3 xx1
Z (J F) / 2 = + ,
4 zz1
Z J AB = ,
5 yy1
Z J AB = ,
6
Z G = ,
2
7 zz1
Z J B / 2 = ,
2
8 yy1
Z J B / 2 = ,
9
Z H / 2 = ,
A Bcoso = ,
2 2 1 1
B R / (L L 2R sin ) o = + ,
C cos Asin o o = + , D Bsin 1 o = + , E Acos sin o o = ,
2 2 2 2
yy4 zz4 4
F J C J E M R C = + + ,
2
yy4 zz4 4
G J CD J EA M R CD = + + ,
2 2 2 2
yy4 zz4 4
H J D J A M R D = + + .
Equation(5)showsthebicyclerobotisanunderactuated
system, which only contains two independent velocities.
Eq. (5) also demonstrates that the rolling angle of the
frameistheunderactuateddegreeoffreedom.
3.Controllerforbalancedmotions
According to [25], one cannot linearize all the degrees of
freedom of an underactuated system just by state
feedback, so we use partial feedback linearization to
developourcontrollers.
11 1
21 22 22 2
12 12
M F
(M M )v M F
M M
t = + ,(6)
where v isanewlyintroducedvirtualcontrolvariable.
Inthetrackstandmotion,weset
d d d d d
2 d 2 2 p 2 2 1 6 6 2 6 6
v q k (q q ) k (q q ) k (q q ) k (q q ) = + + + +
(
*
k is the statefeedback coefficient). By setting variables
d
1 2 2
q q = ,
d
2 2 2
q q = ,
d
1 6 6
q q q = and
d
2 6 6
q q q = , we can get the systems affine equation
fromEq.(5)as
( ) ( )v = + x f x g x , = y Cx (7)
where
T
1 2 1 2
q q ( =
x ,
T
1 1
q ( =
y ,
4 1
( )
( = -
f x
4 1
( )
( = -
g x ,
1 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
(
=
(
C .
Next, we discuss our control systems stability. From Eq.
(7),wegetitsJacobinmatrixattheequilibriumpoint:
p d 2 1
0 1 0 0
k k k k
( )
0 0 0 1
w 0 0 0
(
(
c
(
=
(
c
(
(
x=0
x x
x
where
1 4 6
w M gh / (Z Z ) 0 = + > .
ThesecularequationoftheJacobinmatrixisdescribedas
4 3 2
d p 1 2
D(s) s k s k s wk s wk 0 = + + + + = (8)
where w is the quantity, which relates to the systems
physical parameters (mass, moment of inertia etc.) and
thefrontbarsfixedturningangle.
2
d p 1 d 2 1
k k wk k k / k > .(9)
Obviously,thesystemsstabilityrelatestothecoefficients
d
k ,
p
k ,
1
k
2
k andthesystemphysicalparameters( w ).
Figure2depictsthestructureofthecontroller.
22 2 11 2
21 2
12 2
( ) ( )
( )
( )
M q M q
M q
M q
22 2 1 2 2 6
2 2 2 6
12 2
( ) ( , , )
( , , )
( )
M q F q q q
F q q q
M q
p
k
d
k
1
k
2
k
E
E
E
E
E E 2
q
2
q
6
q
6
q
2
d
q
2
d
q
6
d
q
6
d
q
2
d
q
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
v t
Figure2.Thestructureofthecontrollerfortrackstandmotion
In the circular motion, we should not regulate the front
wheelsangleposition,soweset
d d d d
2 d 2 2 p 2 2 6 6
v q k (q q ) k (q q ) k(q q ) = + + + .(10)
Finally, we also formulated the necessary and sufficient
conditionofstabilityforacircularmotionas
d p
k , k , k 0 > &
d p 1
k k w k 0 > (11)
4.Controlsimulations
Table 1 shows the physical parameters that are used in
our simulations. We obtain the parameters from the
estimates of a virtual bicycle prototype in Solidworks
rather than the parameter identification of our physical
4 Int. j. adv. robot. syst., 2013, Vol. 10, 317:2013 www.intechopen.com
Trackstandmotion
p
k 80 ,
d
k 20 ,
1
k 3.26 ,
2
k 1.52
Circularmotion
d
k 80 ,
p
k 20 , k 5.56
The simulations were performed in Matlab/Simulink. At
thebeginning,wesetthesystemleaningwithanoffsetof
0.13 rad. Figure 3 shows theresults of the twosimulated
experiments.
FromFig3wehave:
Trackstandmotion
Circularmotion
The bicycle is also initially set to tilt at 0.13 rad. When the
controlleracts,thetiltingbeginsexponentiallydecaying,and
two seconds later, it converges to the anticipated 0.034 rad
(Fig.3 (c)). At the beginning, the frontwheel runs quickly
with a rotational rate of 13 rad/s. After two seconds, the
rotational rate decays to the preset 9.42 rad/s. The
maximum frontwheel driving torque is 7.5 Nm (Fig.3(d)).
ThistorquecaneasilybeprovidedbyanormalDCmotor.
Inconclusion,thetwosimulatedexperimentsvalidatethe
effectivenessofourcontrolstrategy.
(a)(b)
(c)(d)
Figure 3. Results of the two simulated experiments. (a) Tilting
angle of the frame and rotational angle of the frontwheel in
trackstand motion. (b) Driving torque of the frontwheel in
trackstand motion. (c) Tilting angle of the frame and rotational
rateofthefrontwheelincircularmotion.(d)Drivingtorqueand
rotationalangleofthefrontwheelincircularmotion.
5.Prototypeexperiments
ADSPbasedprototype,calledBYBRI,isdevelopedwith
1.2m length, 0.7cm height and 23kg weight. Figure 4
depictsthehardwareconfigurationofitscontrolsystem.
Figure4.Configurationoftheautonomousdrivingsystem
0 1 2 3 4 5
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
t/s
q
2
/
r
a
d
0 1 2 3 4 5
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
t/s
q
6
/
r
a
d
q
2
q
6
0 1 2 3 4 5
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
t/s
/
N
m
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
t/s
q
2
/
r
a
d
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
5
10
15
t/s
d
q
6
/
(
r
a
d
/
s
)
q
2
dq
6
0 1 2 3 4 5
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
t/s
/
N
m
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
20
40
60
t/s
q
6
/
r
a
d
q
6
(3P) (2P)
5 Yonghua Huang, Qizheng Liao, Lei Guo and Shimin Wei: Balanced Motions Realization for a Mechanical
Regulators Free and Front-Wheel Drive Bicycle Robot Under Zero Forward Speed
www.intechopen.com
Thedevelopedprototypeprimarilyconsistsoffiveparts:
Controlunit(DSP+sensors)
Communicationunit(wirelessmodules)
Support(aluminiumalloy+steel)
Actuationunit(DCservomotors)
Accessories(batteries,auxiliarywheels)
WeusetwoDSPs(TMS320F28335andTMS320F2812)and
aMCU(C8051F020)asthecorecontrollersinoursystem.
Asforthesensorsgroup,anIMU(InertialMeasureUnit)
sensor and three encoders are used to detect the current
posture and rotational rate of the system. In addition, a
total of three supersonic sensors and a pair of current
sensors are introduced for detecting extended obstacles
and monitoring the motors current, respectively. Since
thebicyclerobotmayrunquicklyoveralongdistanceon
theground,weuseapairofwirelessmodulestotransmit
the recent states and control data between the host
computer and the bicycle robot. Among the short
distance onboard microprocessors, we designed a CAN,
SPIandSCIbustoexchangedata.
thefirstoneisthehostcomputer,whichmanagesthe
strategicdecisionandmonitorstherobotsstate.
the secondone is the two DSPs, which perform data
acquisitionandcontrolalgorithmcalculation.
The last one is the MCU, which deals with the two
jointcontrolmotors.
Thenormalworkingprocedureofthecontrolsystemcan
besummarizedinfoursteps:
Step 1: TMS320F28335 sends a requirement message
ofsensorsdatatransmittingtoTMS320F2812
Step 2: TMS320F2812 receives the requiring message
andthenreturnsthelatestsensorsdatatoF28335
Step 3: Based on the received data, TMS320F28335
calculates the controlled variables and then sends
them to C8051F020. Furthermore, the controlled
variables together with the sensors data are also
transferredtothehostcomputer.
Step 4: C8051F020 generates driving signals
accordingtothecontrolquantitiesthatdrivethetwo
motors
Trackstandmotion
p
k 80
d
k 10
1
k 0.51689
2
k 0.6338
Circularmotion
p
k 140
d
k 20 k 1.7168
Thecontrolsamplingrateforoursystemis30Hz.
Figure5.Snapshotofthetrackstandmotionphysicalexperiment
6 Int. j. adv. robot. syst., 2013, Vol. 10, 317:2013 www.intechopen.com
Figure6.Snapshotofthecircularmotionphysicalexperiment
(a)(b)
(c)(d)
Figure7.Resultsofthetwophysicalexperiments.(a)Tilting
angleoftheframeandrotationalangleofthefrontwheelin
trackstandmotion.(b)Drivingtorqueofthefrontwheelin
trackstandmotion.(c)Tiltingangleoftheframeandrotational
rateofthefrontwheelincircularmotion.(d)Drivingtorqueand
rotationalangleofthefrontwheelincircularmotion.
Figure 5 Figure 7 demonstrate the experimental results
of the prototypes trackstand motion and circular
motion.
Figure6showstherobotstablyrunsonacircletrajectory
withaperiodofabout12seconds.
/
N
m
0 10 20 30 40
-0.01
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
t/s
q
2
/
r
a
d
0 10 20 30 40
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
t/s
d
q
6
/
(
r
a
d
/
s
)
q
2
dq
6
0 10 20 30 40
-2
0
2
4
6
t/s
/
N
m
0 10 20 30 40
0
25
50
75
100
t/s
q
6
/
r
a
d
q
6
7 Yonghua Huang, Qizheng Liao, Lei Guo and Shimin Wei: Balanced Motions Realization for a Mechanical
Regulators Free and Front-Wheel Drive Bicycle Robot Under Zero Forward Speed
www.intechopen.com
9 Yonghua Huang, Qizheng Liao, Lei Guo and Shimin Wei: Balanced Motions Realization for a Mechanical
Regulators Free and Front-Wheel Drive Bicycle Robot Under Zero Forward Speed
www.intechopen.com