Redesign & Implementation of a Moment Exchange Unicycle Robot

Unicycles have a very small footprint, giving them a lot of potential for certain applications, one of which is delivery drones. In this project the feasibility of a specific concept known as the Moment Exchange Unicycle Robot (MEUR) is investigated. More specifically, it is explored whether the MEUR can be used to carry loads and to drive over sloped surfaces. To do this, first the existing prototype has been evaluated and modified. Then various control systems have been created and the performance of these controllers has been compared using simulations. The control systems giving the best performance in the simulations were then implemented in the unicycle robot. The implemented controllers have been tuned and experiments have been performed in order to obtain stability and good tracking performance on a flat surface without additional loads. Next experiments were performed to investigate the ability of the unicycle to carry additional loads and drive along sloped surfaces. The experiments showed that additional loads of up to 0.8 kg can be carried and sloped surfaces of up to 12° in either direction can be driven over.