Building a self-balancing scooter I

• Main Author: Tok, Lai Huat.
• Other Authors: Yap Fook Fah
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Motor vehicles
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/17142
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report covers the improvement made to the mechanical, electronic design as well as the programming strategy to the existing self balancing scooter that was built by Mr Toh Boon Heng, Elvin from the first generation working on the project. The improvement made in the mechanical aspects includes the protection covers and mounting to all the circuits that improved the overall safety of the rider and the system, improvement in the accessibility to all the circuitries for future maintenances or calibration as well as replacement of handles and wheels for smoother control and operation. The improvement made in the electronics aspects include a proper circuit board, firm wiring, faster microcontroller and new steering control which uses the weight distribution of the rider to control the direction of the wheel movement. The improvement made in the programming aspects include the use of complementary filter to fuse the two signals read in from the sensors to provide much more accurate angle, new safety angle control that will push the rider back instead of shutting the system down, the implementation of the integral to the PD control to eliminate the error and implementation of a separate PID gain value for the vehicle self balancing and rider balancing. Test has been conducted and results shows that the angle obtained through the implementation of the filter is much closer as to the actual angle compare to individual reading. The overall aesthetic of the vehicle is also much better and is safer for the rider to ride as there are better protections for all the circuitries. Riding test of the vehicle was also conducted on different types of terrain such as small ramps, tight corners and gentle slopes have proven that the vehicle is able to operate well.