Stabilization of the Furuta Pendulum with backlash using H∞‐LMI technique: experimental validation

The rotary inverted pendulum, also named Furuta Pendulum, has been studied extensively for control performance evaluation in under‐actuated mechanisms. The H_∞ control invoking linear matrix inequality (H_∞‐LMI) has been also widely employed for linear control design. This paper deals with the feasibility of the H_∞‐LMI technique to stabilize the rotary inverted pendulum around its unstable equilibrium point when there exists a backlash nonlinearity in the actuator. So, the H_∞‐LMI faces the nonlinear effect in the actuator and the non‐linear pendulum model. Experimental realization of the designed H_∞‐LMI control also shows evidence of the good performance of the controller subject to external perturbation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society