Roll control of a novel single line play robot by controlling air pressure of ducted fans

This paper presents novel design and control of a single-wheel mobile robot that can balance on the single rope by air power induced from ducted fans. A single-wheel mobile robot called the single line play robot (SLPR) is designed for balancing on the rope. SLPR has three directional actuators to move on the plane. A roll angle is controlled for balancing by air pressure generated by ducted fans. The roll angle is detected by a tilt sensor and a gyro sensor. The complementary filter is used to fuse them together to obtain more accurate angle data. Since the main purpose of the single line play robot is to balance on the rope, a roll angle is actuated and controlled by air pressure to maintain balancing. Hardware implementation and sensor fusion are presented. Experimental studies of SLPR balancing control performances both on the floor and on the rope are presented.