A Model Reference Adaptive Control Strategy for a Self-Balancing Chair

This paper describes the control aspects and results of a student project called "MonoChair". The goal was to have students walk through a complete control systems development cycle. The focus in this contribution is put on the design of a stabilizing linear controller, a sensitivity analysis in order to study the impact of parameter variations, and the design and test of an adaptive controller using a model reference approach. The linear controller has been implemented on the physical system and has extensively been tested in driving experiments. The adaptive controller has been tested in simulations and implemented on the physical plant as well. Initial experimental results are presented. A video showing the performance with the nominal linear controller can be found on [1].