How to build simple analog balancing robots

A simple intro of how to balance a robot using photocells, a servo and basic electronics.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• balance
• balancing
• robot
• PID
• control
• robotics
• BEAM
• analog
• analogue

[MrBarcode]

Can this be scaled up to a DIY Segway?

[roboanalogtom]

@MrBarcode Sure but you'd have to use different sensors such as gyros and accelerometers.

[roboanalogtom]

google "modify servo for continuous rotation" and they'll be lots of websites that show you how to do it.

[29riteshkakkar]

Cool work.............

nice work!!

[sagar2880055]

nice one !! im a amateur,tyrin to make it for a science fair, can i know how to convert the servo in to a continuosly rotating one

[roboanalogtom]

@silverstream314 It's very sensitive to changing light conditions although I haven't built one and actually moved the light source.

[silverstream314]

@roboanalogtom Okay, so at least I'm not completely off. How sensitive is the robot to changing light conditions?

[roboanalogtom]

@silverstream314 You're right. In this set up there's a sweet spot in relation to the light where the robot is stable so in this specific case integrating likely would not help.

[silverstream314]

@roboanalogtom Yes, all balancing robots I've seen uses accelerometers and gyros, and that made me very impressed to see such a simple circuit managing the same thing (and the clever use of photoresistors)! So an integrating part would help? I was under the impression that integrators were mainly used to correct for constant offsets, which can't really be present in this kind of application as the robot would then fall.

[roboanalogtom]

@silverstream314 Yeah, if one used accelerometers and/or gyros instead of LDRs then you can increase stability. Also, using an active PID instead of a passive PID set up would also increase stability since it would be easier to tune the behavior.

I was happy just to get such a simple circuit to stay up!