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Machine learning

Advances in Robotics: Researchers Develop Wheeled Inverted Pendulum with Fan

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Researchers from Jeonbuk National University have made significant advancements in the field of robotics by developing a Wheeled Inverted Pendulum with a Fan (WIPF). This innovative system incorporates a fan-generated bidirectional thrust force as an additional control input, making it fully actuated and enhancing stability. However, the limited bandwidth of the fan thrust introduces control challenges, which the researchers have addressed by proposing a Frequency-Shaped Model Predictive Control (FSMPC) design framework. This framework accounts for actuator dynamics in the optimization process and can provide improved stability by penalizing high-frequency input using the frequency response of the fan.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Wheeled Inverted Pendulum with a Fan (WIPF) is a novel system that offers agile mobility but is challenging to control due to its unstable and underactuated dynamics.
  • The researchers developed a WIPF incorporating a fan-generated bidirectional thrust force as an additional control input, making the system fully actuated and enhancing stability.
  • The limited bandwidth of the fan thrust introduces control challenges, which are addressed by the proposed Frequency-Shaped Model Predictive Control (FSMPC) design framework.
  • The FSMPC framework accounts for actuator dynamics in the optimization process and can provide improved stability by penalizing high-frequency input using the frequency response of the fan.
  • The performance of FSMPC with the proposed design framework is compared through simulations and experiments against a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), a standard Model Predictive Controller (MPC), and a Frequency-Shaped LQR (FSLQR) that does not consider fan dynamics or the input constraint.
  • The results demonstrate that FSMPC achieves improved stability and robustness compared to other controllers.
  • The research has been peer-reviewed and has been published in the Ieee Robotics and Automation Letters.
  • Financial support for this research comes from the Ministry of Science & ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea.
  • Yeongtae Jung from Jeonbuk National University is involved in the research.

Statistics:

  • The WIPF system offers agile mobility but is challenging to control due to its unstable and underactuated dynamics.
  • The WIPF system incorporates a fan-generated bidirectional thrust force as an additional control input, which makes the system fully actuated and enhances stability.
  • The limited bandwidth of the fan thrust introduces control challenges that are addressed by the proposed FSMPC framework.
  • The FSMPC framework accounts for actuator dynamics in the optimization process and can provide improved stability by penalizing high-frequency input using the frequency response of the fan.
  • The results demonstrate that FSMPC achieves improved stability and robustness compared to other controllers.
  • The research has been published in the Ieee Robotics and Automation Letters (2025;10(8):8260-8267).

Sources:

  • NewsRx. Studies from Jeonbuk National University Add New Findings in the Area of Robotics and Automation (Actuator Dynamics-aware Model Predictive Control of a Wheeled Inverted Pendulum With a Fan). Robotics & Machine Learning. October 27, 2025; p 542.
  • Actuator Dynamics-aware Model Predictive Control of a Wheeled Inverted Pendulum With a Fan. Ieee Robotics and Automation Letters, 2025;10(8):8260-8267.

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