Inverted Pendulum Project Log #1

Work-in-progress living document

Inspiration

Having recently studied robotics in greater depth, I wanted to begin a project that would apply my knowledge of control theory--the science of making machinery bend to your will to using sensors and physics.

This led me to the perfect choice--an inverted pendulum. It's a wonderful Renaissance engineering challenge, featuring a bit of everything: mechanical design, motor control, sensors, and simulation.

For inspiration on how to make this happen, I looked to others' previous attempts:

• Philippe Francois implemented CTMS' wonderfully-detailed inverted pendulum model.
• Ian Carey (nice site btw) had a very helpful bill of materials, pointing me to the widely-used GT2 timing belt (same as most 3D printers!) as a drive mechanism.

Bill of Materials