An inverted pendulum for experiments and demonstrations

An OUC/IOT topic description

Technical abstract:

At Odense University College of Engineering, we have the mechanical frame for an 'inverted' pendulum platform. All we need to get it up and running is: Power electronics for the motor; Position and angular sensors with interfaces; An embedded computer/microcontroller to act as controller; An algorithm that can balance the inverted pendulum



Goals:

  • Analysis of the inverted pendulum setup
  • Design a suitable setup based on the analysis
    • Reevaluate the existing motor and gear - possibly choosing new ones
    • Decide on position-, angle-, and possibly other sensors for sensor feedback
    • The computer system and interfaces to control the pendulum
  • Implement the chosen subsystems on the existing platform
  • Measure and/or calculate key properties of the pendulum setup
  • Create and verify a mathematical model of the pendulum setup
  • Design, implement and test one or more control algorithms for the pendulum

Formalities:

Supervisor:
This topic will engage Anders Stengaard Sørensen of OUC/IOT as supervisor for sensor/actuator and systems integration, while it will probably engage one of OUC/IOT's experts on control theory during development of the control algorithms.

Size:
We estimate this topic to be equivalent to 6-12 ECTS, making it suitable as main topic for medium sized projects, or as sub-topic of a larger project. Although the size of the topic lends itself for a bachelors project, it must be noted that controlling an inverted pendulum usually requires prior knowledge of control theory, either from a formal couse or from self-study.

Relations:
This topic is quite suited for combination with topics related to:

  • Control theory
  • System identification and modelling
  • Sensor integration and sensor/actuator systems
  • Embedded computer systems
  • Robot control
  • Interfacing computers to mechanical systems

Milestones:

  • Start: When possible

Community of interest:

Although the inverted pendulum problem in itself have few industrial applications, the knowlege and experience gained from solving it in practice is higly applicable to many fields in automation, making the inverted pendulum problem an educational classic. Beside the educational value, a working pendulum is an impressive engineering demonstration, which is well suited for demonstrations and PR events.
  • Odense University College of engineering - This topic touches upon various interests at OUC:
    • OUC/IOT already have an incomplete pendulum setup, which we are very interested in bringing to use
    • OUC/IOT is quite strong with advanced digital control theory, and we would like some pratical demonstrations of this ability
    • The topic is proposed by Anders Stengaard Sørensen of OUC, who offers to supervise it
    • Several OUC/IOT specialists in relevant areas like signal processing, sensors and control theory could contribute to this topic

Contact:

If this topic is interesting to you, please contact:

Anders Stengaard Sørensen
Ingeniørhøjskolen Odense Teknikum
Niels Bohrs Allé 1
DK-5230 Odense M
Room H-102a