Balancing control application using gyroscopic effect to a hand-carried one-wheel cart

This paper presents the balancing control application to a hand-carried one-wheel cart that is used for carrying objects by a human operator. Balancing and driving control of the cart is mainly controlled by human power. To help the human power for balancing in the lateral direction, gyro-effect is employed to generate the balancing torque in the lateral direction to maintain the balance. A one-wheel cart with a gimbal system called Gyrocart is implemented and controlled. The gimbal system is composed of a flywheel, flywheel housing, and motors to induce the gyro effect. Gyrocart is developed to be a future cart that can help human labors to carry objects in the narrow space. Experimental studies of the balancing test of Gyrocart are performed to confirm the feasibility of Gyrocart.