ROS-based Controller for a Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Robot

In this article, a controller based on a Robot Operating System (ROS) for a two-wheeled self-balancing robot is designed. The proposed ROS architecture is open, allowing the integration of different sensors, actuators, and processing units. The low-cost robot was designed for educational purposes. It used an ESP32 microcontroller as the central unit, an MPU6050 Inertial Measurement Unit sensor, DC motors with encoders, and an L298N integrated circuit as a power stage. The mathematical model is analyzed through Newton-Euler and linearized around an equilibrium point. The control objective is to self-balance the robot to the vertical axis in the presence of disturbances. The proposed control is based on a bounded saturation, which is lightweight and easy to implement in embedded systems with low computational resources. Experimental results are performed in real-time under regulation, conditions far from the equilibrium point, and rejection of external disturbances. The results show a good performance, thus validating the mechanical design, the embedded system, and the control scheme. The proposed ROS architecture allows the incorporation of different modules, such as mapping, autonomous navigation, and manipulation, which contribute to studying robotics, control, and embedded systems

Advanced Strategies for Robot Manipulators

Amongst the robotic systems, robot manipulators have proven themselves to be of increasing importance and are widely adopted to substitute for human in repetitive and/or hazardous tasks. Modern manipulators are designed complicatedly and need to do more precise, crucial and critical tasks. So, the simple traditional control methods cannot be efficient, and advanced control strategies with considering special constraints are needed to establish. In spite of the fact that groundbreaking researches have been carried out in this realm until now, there are still many novel aspects which have to be explored