Composite Whole-Body Control of Two-Wheeled Robots
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Due to their fast and efficient locomotion, two-wheeled humanoids are fascinating systems with the potential to be involved in many application domains, including healthcare, manufacturing, and many others. However, these robots constitute a challenging case of study for control purposes due to the two-wheeled inverted pendulum dynamics that characterizes their mobility and support, as it is underactuated and unstable. In this article, we propose a novel whole-body control approach to stabilize two-wheeled humanoids. To tackle the control problem of their forward motion and pitch equilibrium, leveraging on the observation that such systems are usually characterized by a faster and a slower dynamics (being the pitch angle faster and the forward displacement slower), we design a composite whole-body control that combines two computed-torque control loops to stabilize both dynamics to the desired trajectories. The control approach is introduced and its derivation is described for the simpler case of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum first, and for a whole two-wheeled humanoid after. To prove its validity, the control approach is tested experimentally on the two-wheeled humanoid robot Alter-Ego. The robot proves to be able to perform complicated interaction tasks, including opening a door, grasping a heavy object, and resisting to external dynamic disturbances.
Source: IEEE Transactions on Robotics
Institutions: University of Pisa, Technology Innovation Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,645
OpenAlex ID: W4408166168