Balance Control of a Wheeled Inverted Pendulum Based on Image Data

An inverted pendulum is categorized as a non-linear and unstable system. Conventionally, tilt-meter and gyro sensors have commonly been used to measure the inclination and inclination rate of the inverted pendulum. In this paper, however, a CMOS camera is employed as the measurement sensor. An image processing circuit is designed for the inclination measurement and, by the concept of software/hardware co-design the inclination measurement hardware module is integrated with the LQR control software to be implemented on the FPGA of a SoPC to balance a wheeled inverted pendulum. Simulation and experimental results confirm that the resulting system meets the design purpose.