Optimal Controller Design for Self-balancing Two-wheeled Robot System

In this paper an optimal controller is designed for a self-balancing two-wheeled robot system based on the robust Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme. The MPC controller computes the trajectory of the manipulated variable in order to optimize the behavior of the system future output. A limited time window is used for the optimization described by the length of time and initial time. By minimizing the cost function, the optimal control is found within the moving window. The proposed controller is simulated using Matlab/Simulink. Performance of the optimal controller based on MPC scheme is compared with that of a PID controller. The simulation results show better stability and improved reference position tracking for the MPC based optimal controller with good robustness against the perturbations in the system model.