DEVELOPMENT OF A ROBUST CASCADE CONTROLLER FOR A RIDERLESS BICYCLE

Abstract: A controlled riderless bicycle is desired for the purpose of testing autonomous vehicles ability to detect and recognise cyclists. The bicycle, which is a highly unstable system with complex dynamics have been subject to research for over a century, and in the last decades, controllers have been developed for autonomous bicycles. The controllers are often only evaluated in simulation, but some complex controllers have been developed on real-life bicycles as well. The goal of this work is to validate sensors and subsystems of an instrumented bicycle and to develop a robust controller which can balance a bicycle by using actuation on the steering axis alone. Using an iterative design process, the sensor measuring the lean angle and the steering system are improved and validated. By sensing the lean angle, the handlebar is manipulated to make the bicycle stable. For this purpose, a P, PD, two different PID, an LQR and a fuzzy controller are developed, evaluated and compared. The results show that the bicycle can ride without human interaction on a bicycle roller in different velocities. Additionally, numerous experiments are conducted in an outdoor environment in several different terrains, where the proposed control structure manages to balance and steer the bicycle.