Abstract:

An approach to identify the inertial parameters of an underactuated spherical robot is presented, which is based on an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). First, a dynamic model of the spherical robot was constructed using Kane's method. Then, using the three underactuated equations of the constructed dynamic model, the identification model of inertial parameters of the spherical robot was derived. Finally, the proposed method of inertial parameter identification was validated by experiment on a new type of spherical robot as the experimental platform, using the real information of the IMU fixed on the frame of the robot. Experiment results show that the proposed method is simple and feasible that the identified parameters are reasonable. The method can be applicable for the identification of inertial parameters of other underactuated robots.

Key words: automatic control technology, spherical robot, underactuated robot, inertial measurement unit (IMU), inertial parameters identification