Balancing control of a Segway-type wheelchair under disturbance based on H-infinity

This research presents the design, implementation, and experimental validation of a robust control system for a human-scale Segway-type wheelchair. Two distinct control strategies—a standard linear quadratic regulator (LQR) and a robust H ∞ controller—are synthesized based on a linearized state-space model and implemented on an STM32 microcontroller. The study conducts comparative experiments to evaluate real-world performance under parametric uncertainty and impulsive disturbance scenarios. While both controllers achieve stability under nominal conditions, their performance diverges significantly in the presence of uncertainty. Experimental results demonstrate that the H ∞ controller maintains robust stability against substantial parametric variations and impulsive external forces, whereas the LQR destabilizes under these conditions. Consequently, this work confirms that H ∞ control offers superior robustness and reliability for balancing platforms operating in unpredictable environments.