SimMechanics™ based modeling, simulation and real-time control of Rotary Inverted Pendulum

Rotary Inverted Pendulum is an under actuated, highly nonlinear and unstable system which is widely used for testing various control techniques. The objective of this paper is modeling and simulation of the rotary pendulum QUBE-Servo of Quanser© using second-generation SimMechanics™ toolbox in MATLAB. Results obtained with physical modeling using SimMechanics are validated with the analytical modeling of setup. Physical modeling and simulation are discussed in detail. Further, different control techniques like Pole Placement (PP), Proportional-Derivative (PD) and Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control are implemented for balancing the inverted pendulum in upright position. Thereafter, the results obtained from validated physical model and real-time experimentation are compared and the results are found in close agreement.