Linear Controllers for the NXT Ballbot with Parameter Variations Using Linear Matrix Inequalities [Lecture Notes]

Abstract

For years, one of the main challenges for teachers of the automatic control courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels has been breaking the barrier between the strong mathematical content of these courses and the practice of applying such knowledge to real systems. Some students envision automatic control courses as a set of abstract mathematics, and even when they understand how to solve textbook problems, few students assimilate how to apply this knowledge to real systems or grasp the true importance of such courses in various branches of engineering [1], [2]. To try to address these issues, some researchers have exerted considerable effort to make the understanding of some advanced automatic control concepts more accessible from the mathematical point of view using graphical or tabular concepts that can be handled in any basic control course [3]?[5]. Recently, with advances in computer technology, numerical simulation tools have also been widely used to facilitate the teaching-learning process in the automatic control area [6]?[8].