The ball and beam acting on the ball

Abstract

Another interesting example of underactuated systems is the ball and beam system. In this chapter, we propose a control law for the ball and beam system acting on the ball instead of the beam. Such a mechanical system is outlined in Figure 10.1 and described in Section 10.2. The system in Figure 10.1 is motivated by the control of small rotational oscillations of platforms and vehicle suspensions. For simplicity, we assume that the center of the beam is connected to the pivot using a rotational spring and we neglect friction.

The authors of this chapter are Carlos Aguilar and Rogelio Lozano. Carlos Aguilar is with the Lab orat ory of Measurement and Control, CIC , IPN, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, AP. 75476, 07700 Mexico D.F . and Rogelio Lozano is with th e Lab oratory Heudiasyc, UTC UMR CNRS 6599, Cent re de Recherche de Royallieu , BP 20529, 60205 Cornpi egne Cedex , France.