Magic PlankUniversity of Central Florida College of Computer Science and EngineeringSenior Design II Group IISpring/Summer 2012 |
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Project OverviewThe Magic Plank is a unique project that addresses the distinctive nature of the inverted pendulum problem. The inverted pendulum is a classic problem in dynamics and control theory, and is an accepted method of benchmarking various control algorithms. The inverted pendulum problem has been addressed successfully by Segway Incorporated, the company who has produced the Segway Personal Transportation vehicle. The Segway Personal Transportation vehicle speed is dependent on the way the operator shifts their body weight. When an operator shifts their weight forward the Segway accelerations forward to offset the shift in the equilibrium. When the operator shifts their weight back upright, will cause the Segway to slow down and return to the original state of equilibrium of the Segway being perfectly perpendicular to the surface of the terrain. The Segway turns when one of the handle on the left side of the steering column is twisted; this simply just varies the speeds between each of the two motors rotating the Segway. The Magic Plank will address the inverted pendulum problem similar to that of Segway Incorporated. However, the implementation of the Magic Plank will not be using server motors or a steering column. Without a steering column the wheels will be mounted in the center of the platform, this will make the Magic Plank resemble more of a skateboard with an elongated deck. Moreover, all steering will be done wirelessly through Bluetooth, using a Nintendo wireless Wii controller, also known as the Wiimote. The motors used are the same motors that can be found a Razor electric scooter; these motors will be using a chain drive system. Using a chain drive system will inherently be less responsive to commands, and taken further calculations to ensure accurate and consistent equilibrium. With the changes made in our implementation, the Magic Plank will be a heavily software oriented project. |
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