A Two Wheeled Robot Control System
Scott M. Boskovich
California State Polyrechnic University, Pomona
3801 W: Temple
Pomona, CA 91768
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to desigq build
and test a control system that controls two motors for a
two wheeled robot. By implementing the control
system, the robot will maintain a straight path under
normal conditions. Without such a control system, the
robot’s path would deviate from the specified direction.
To implement the control system for the robot a two
wheeled platform was built. Each wheel was interfaced
to a microcontroller where the microcontroller
performed a controlling routine stored in software. By
implementing this design, the robot is able to correct
for deviations.
Introduction
Soon, robots will become an everyday
occurrence in people’s daily lives. Today, the field of
robotics is in its infancy. Robot designers are plagued
with problems of controlling the robots to compensate
for simple operations people take for granted.
Therefore, control systems must be implemented to
ensure correct operation.
Several different types of drivetrain
codgurations exist for mobile robots. There are
legged robots that try to mimic the propulsion of a
mammal, and there are wheeled robots. Of the wheeled
robot types, there can be a single drive with a
differential, or an independent drive to each wheel. The
legged variety tends to be very difEicult to control and
is very costly. The wheeled type tends to be more
realizable for mobile robot operation.
With the wheeled robot type, there exists either
a single drive or an independent drive configuration,
The single type relies on one motor and some type of
dzerential providing power to both wheels. A servo
motor provides steering. This type must move forward
ISBN# 0-7803-2636-9
or reverse in order to turn, and therefore usually has a
large tuming radius when compared to an independent
type. The mechanics also tend to be much more
involved. An example of a single drive system would
be an automobile.
The independent type has a motor attached to
each drive wheel which is mounted opposite of one
another. The two adjacent sides have support casters
attached to them to provide balance. The independent
type allows for pivoting while in a stationary position
by spinning each wheel in opposite directions.
Depending on the direction of wheel rotation, the robot
can pivot counter-clockwise or clockwise. To move
forward or reverse, the wheels must spin in the same
direction where the direction of spin determines
forward or reverse movement. This type of robot can
also turn about one wheel without the need for forward
or reverse movement. This can be accomplished by
spinning one wheel and not the other one. Depending
on the direction of rotation of the wheel, the robot will
turn about the stationary wheel.
By examining the difficulties associated with
performance, the independent drive codlguration
provides the best combination. However, there is a
problem associated with this configuration. It assumes
that both wheels have identical drivetrains, and the
surface of travel is perfectly level and smooth. In the
real world, this does not exist. Since no two
drivetrains or motors are ever identical, the differences
in the motors and fictional losses could cause one
wheel to travel faster than the other. This causes the
robot’s travel to deviate. Therefore, if the robot is
commanded to travel straight, in actuality, the robot
will drift toward the slower side. This severity of driR is
dependent on the amount of difference between the two
drivetrains and motors. For this reason, a means of
control and compensation needs to be implemented to
ensure that the robot travels in the specified direction.
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Discussion
General System Theory
A control system for a two wheeled robot must
involve the following:
1. A means of sensing the speed of each wheel.
2. A means of ‘bowing” the distance traveled.
3. The system must be able to adjust the speed of
each wheel separately.
4. The system should be able to allow for
“imperfect” conditions.
Due to the complexity of the system
requirements, a microprocessor is used for control.
The microprocessor implemented is the MC68HCllE9
microcontroller from Motorola. The method of speed
control utilized is Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). By
varying the duty cycle of the signal sent to the motors,
the speed is changed thusly. To extract the speed of
each wheel, encoder discs and opto-interrupters are
used. This combination incorporates a disc mounted on
each drive shaft. The edge of the disc has 128 slots
spaced evenly around the perimeter of the disc. The
interrupters are mounted such that the disc fits between
the void of the emitter and detector pair. Therefore, as
the disc turns, the detector “sees” pulses fiom the
emitter caused by the slots in the perimeter of the
encoder disc. The frequency of these pulses correlate
directly with the rotation of the wheel. Therefore, the
speed of each wheel is obtained fiom the emitter.
Figure 1 shows the general block diagram.
TO PCUSER
MOTOR SHPIT
T (PMSIWCONNECTION)
DRIVER MOTOR2
MOTOR SHAFT
PMSlCALCONNECTIOHJ
Figure 1 System Block Diagram
75 1
This control loop can also fimction to correct
the robot’s drift that could be caused by unlevel
surfaces. For example, a robot traveling on an
unleveled path without this control loop implemented
will drift towards the downward side. However, due to
the nature of this control loop, the robot will maintain
the specified trajectory. This is because the system will
think there is a drivetrain difference, and therefore will
adjust accordingly.
Electrical
The electrical subsystem of the robot comprises
of three parts; analog, digital, and power. The analog
part is responsible for controlling the motors and
interpreting the inputs from the encoder disc. The
digital portion, consisting of memory and a processor,
executes the controlling algorithm stored in software.
The digital part also provides an interface to a second
dedicated processor for fbture developments. The
interface board was designed as part of my senior
design project and the processor board was purchased
fiom New-Micros Inc. The processor board provides a
64K address space which can be configured with a
combination of 8K-32K SRAM, 8K-32K EPROM,
and/or 8K-32K EEPROM. It also provides an
expansion port, serial communications via RS232, and
LCD display capabilities. The power system provides
two sources of 5V ( one for each board ) and 12V to
the motors.
The power system consists of two sealed lead
acid batteries configured in parallel providing a total of
14A/h. There are two linear voltage regulators,
LM7805K, which provide the 5V required by each
board. They are in a TO-3 style package and mounted
to a heatsink on the robot chassis. The 12V is obtained
directly fiom the batteries.
The analog system must convert everything
fiom analog to digital or fiom digital to analog. The
first part of this task is accomplished by the
emitteddetector (E/D) pairs. They provide a train of
pulses dependent on the speed of each wheel. This is
done by turning on an IR diode, and then obtaining the
pulses of IR in a phototransistor mounted opposite the
diode. Each disc has two E/D pairs where one pair
from each disc has its fiequency converted into an
analog signal fiom OV to 4.5V. First, the pulse train
must be amplified and “squared up” by using a 74LS14
Schmitt trigger inverter. The square pulse is then
converted to an analog voltage. This is accomplished
by using the LM331 frequency to voltage converter.
This analog voltage is then filtered using an RC
network, shown in figure 2.
squared pulse from
El0 pair
Figure 2.
The value of 5V indicates excessive speed that
might be incurred in downhill traveL The 0.5V
difference is simply a safety margin. Therefore, by
limiting the output to 4.5V under normal operation,
downhill travel will be no problem
The analog voltage represents the speed of the
wheel where OV is no rotation and 4.5V is maximum
speed. The analog voltage is fed into the analog ports
on the microcontroller (MC68HC11, or just HC11)
where it is converted into a digital signal by the
onboard analog to digital converters (ADC). The
digital signal is 8 bits wide providing a representation
fiom Ox00 hex to O x F F hex. Once in digital format, the
processor can calculate the amount of of€set for the
controlling algorithm in software. A signal is also
obtained fi-om a J-K flip-flop and is configured in such
a way that both pairs from each wheel provide
information about the direction of rotation. The pulses
fi-om the second pair of Ems are fed directly into the
HC11. These features are not currently implemented
but are there for fimre use. Once the HC11 has
calculated the amount of speed to adjust for each
wheel, the data is sent internally to Port A. This data
contains the speed in a Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) format. Likewise, the direction of the motors
is also specified. For the wheel to be stationary, no
PWM is specsed, and therefore has a duty of zero. All
data is buffered going into the HC 11 or from the HC 11
via 74HC541 buffers.
Pulses from the left E/D pair are also fed into
the H C l l to the pulse accumulator in Port A PA7 to
determine how far the robot has traveled. This will be
explained hrther in the software section.
The speed of each motor is controlled by PWM
where the duty cycle of the pulses determines the
overall voltage applied. If the duty cycle is 50%, then
the on time is half. The average voltage to the motor
then becomes 6V, even though each swing is between
OV and 12V. This P W M signal is applied to a
Darlington pair for each motor. The motors’ directions
are determined by the digital value from Port A,
specifically Port A bit 4 (PA4) and Port A bit 6 (PA6).
If PA4 is a ‘logic one” then the motor turns one
direction, if it is a ‘logic zero” then it turns the other
direction. This is performed by the H-Bridge
configuration of transistors. Each of the opposing
adjacent transistors is connected to the same digital
signal fiom the relay. When one pair is ‘logic one,” the
current in the motor is in one direction causing one
direction of rotation. By turning on the other pair, the
current in the motor is opposite and therefore the
motor turns the opposite direction. By controlling the
time the H-Bridge is active via the Darlington transistor
pair with PWM, and choosing which state the direction
bit is in, 111 control over each motor is achieved
simultaneously. This is shown below in figure 3.
P 12” II l2V9
2N30SS
I
From Conkoner
2N3055 2N3OSS
SpeedControl
‘1
Figure 3.
The H-Bridge is implemented with 2N3055
transistors m a TO-3 style case mounted to a heatsink
on the robot chassis. The 2N3055 was selected for its
high current capacity in the case of fhure upgrades of
the motors. The Darlington pair consists of a 2N2222
from the buffer via the port and its pair is a 2N3055
which handles the high current from the H-Bridge.
Connectors to the H-Bridge ftom the interface board
were used to allow for system upgrades and repair
without any desoldering. This is also true for the
Darlington pair with the power transistor the 2N3055.
The relay used is a sealed “dip” pack and can be
switched up to 3 million times. The relay was used to
provide the necessary current to the transistors at 12V
and not 5V. If the relay was not used, an additional
gate would need to drive an intermediate transistor
before the power transistor. By using the relay, eight
transistors and eight resistors are eliminated. Since
board space is at a premium, the relay was selected.
Note, that a power MOSFET could be used, but the
price of a MOSFET capable of meeting the motor's
current demand would be much higher.
Software
The fimction of the software is to implement a
controlling algorithm which uses the data collected
from the hardware. The algorithm adjusts the speed of
each motor such that the robot travels along the
specified trajectory. The data received by the H C l l is
analog, and is converted into digital via onboard ADCs.
The data in the ADCs is 8 bits and represents the speed
of each wheel respectively.
The software must ensure the following occurs:
1. The robot travels the specified
distance.
2. The robot maintains the specified
trajectory.
3. The robot attempts to maintain the
desired speed unless the trajectory is
compromised.
In accomplishing these tasks, the program
incorporates background processing for the timers, and
the interrupts, while executing the main program. The
interrupt is used with the pulse accumulator to count
how many ticks from the encoder disc have been
received. This is done in the background while the main
program is executing. When the counter reaches its
limit and overflows, an interrupt occurs and the
program stops what it is doing to service the Interrupt
Service Routine (ISR). Once the ISR has been
executed, the program resumes where it had been prior
to executing the ISR. The other background operation
is the PWM control. The PWM is performed separate
to the main program except for altering the PWM
value.
The PWM is carried out through the use of the
dedicated internal timers and compare registers. Once
the comparing registers are configured, the program
only needs to write the value of the desired PWM
speed. The internal timer continuously counts by
declaring a compare register to transition its port (Port
A) after N counts have occurred. After a successfd
compare, the port changes state until the main counter
completes its cycle. Therefore, by specifying the
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transition to occur after 80% of the counts, in effect a
PWM of 80% has been performed. The robot uses two
such timers associated with PA3, and PA5. Their
corresponding timer output compare registers are
TOC3, and TOC5 respectively. Each motor receives
data through the appropriate memory mapped register.
To summarize, the main program must initialize
the two background routines, and then execute the
main body. First, it must obtain data fiom the user or
host computer s p e c m g the speed, distance, and
direction. Once these parameters have been
established, the program moves the robot. This is done
by calculating the values for the PWM. After this, the
program executes until the interrupt from the distance
counter occurs. It then services the ISR, and returns.
The control algorithm is implemented in the main
program body. The algorithm used is called a
Proportional-Integral control loop structure or simply a
PI controller, and is shown in figure 4.
Figure 4. Proportional Integral Control Loop
implemented in software to control the system.
The PI controller works as follows. First, the
commanded speed is set and the robot starts by
"ramping-upyyto the commanded speed. This action
prevents any slippage that could occur under most
circumstances, and provides for uniform acceleration.
Once the robot is at the specified speed, the PI control
system is implemented. The value of each wheel
encoder is read, and converted to digital. Shown in
figure 4 is the center feedback line where the two
velocities are subtracted and the error between them
integrated. This number is then multiplied by the
integral constant called KI. The speed of each wheel is
also subtracted from the sum of the multiplied error and
commanded speed. This value is then multiplied by a
proportional constant KP. This &a1 offset value is
added, or subtracted depending on the sign, to the
existing value of command. This occurs when the
program recalls the routine to move the robot. The
overall speed of each motor then adjusted. The robot
then ramps down, or decelerates, to minimize error or
drifting that could occur due to sudden stops.
Therefore, the robot slows down gradually.
The program can be summarized as follows:
1. Include libraries - technique used in C
programming to import other code.
2. Declare macro definitions.
3. Declare ISR.
4. Initialize variables.
5. Get information.
6. Set up when overflow is to occur.
7. Ramp up until overflow, then go on.
8. Travel, and perform PI loop until robot can
ramp down based upon interrupt state.
9. Ramp down until overflow.
10. Repeat process.
Current Limitations and Future Implementations
The current drawbacks of the control system
are based upon the fact that all information about travel
is obtained by wheel speed. There is no outside
reference or redundancy in the system. Because of this,
the robot may ‘‘~nk~~owingly” exhibit error and
therefore be unable to correct for it. Another drawback
is that the environment must still be somewhat
controlled. Not much lateral inclination can be
tolerated.
To combat these limitations of the current
generation, there are some implementations that could
improve the accuracy of the system. One such
implementation is the use of a gyroscope. The
gyroscope would detect any angle deviation that may
be caused by slippage of the wheels. If the gyroscope
is enabled and drift occurs, then the H C l l could be
alerted by an interrupt. Another improvement to the
system is redundancy. The other pair of Ems could be
associated with input timers that could provide the
robot with position information also. Using the two
sources of information together, the error would could
be reduced further.
Future enhancements will include a developed also provide better support for robotics.
motherboard (PC) on the robot. This would consist of
an Intel 80386 processor with 1 MB. of memory, and
interfaces for a disk drive, graphics display, parallel
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port, and serial port. The motherboard, mounted on
the robot, will communicate all data to the H C l l
directly via a special interface on the motherboard
attached to the expansion bus. The H C l l would
communicate via its expansion bus by the userPC
interface on the interface board. The user would then
communicate directly with the PC and never worry
about the H C l l board.
With the inclusion of a motherboard, a second
HC 11 will be used to provide navigational information.
This board will include a long range sonar system, and
a close range infi-ared system. This board will
communicate directly with the motherboard and only
have an emergency line connected to the motor
controller HC11. In the event a panic situation occurs,
there is little time for the ranging board to communicate
with the motor controller board. Instead, the ranging
system will alert the motor controller directly. With the
use of a PC,another addition will be speech recognition
and synthesis. This will be accomplished with one of
the many sound boards available on the market at fairly
inexpensive prices. For example, a Sound Blaster
board facilitates speech recognition, and synthesis.
With this approach, the user communicates to the PC
by talking not typing, and the PC uses speech instead of
some type of display. Other such improvements then
may include manipulators, and actual vision.
Conclusion
The field of robotics, and moreover mobile
robotics, is still in its infancy. A great number of
problems in robotics are created by interfacing a
laboratory oriented device to the outside ‘kea1 world”
where imperfect circumstances exist. A method for the
robot to compensate for these “imperfections” becomes
vital if a robot is to operate correctly outside these
perfect environments. This design project looked at
only one technique to combat a particular problem. In
doing so, s o h g the problem only opened more
avenues to explore in such a new diverse field.
Today, the “robot engineer” is provided with a
multitude of possibilities to overcome the problems
associated with managing a robotic system in the real
world. The current state of processor technology
versus price is just one example. The languages being
Whether the robot is to be implemented as a servant or
for pure entertainment still remains uncertain, however,
the potential is here.
References

1. Chubb, Bruce, Build You Own Universal

Computer Interface, Tab, 1989.
2. F l y , Anita., Jones, Joseph, Mobile Robots -
Inspiration to Implementation, A.K.
Peters, 1993.
3. Heiserman, David, How to Build and Desinn
Your Own Custom Robot, Tab, 1981.
4. McComb, Gordon, WBuilder’s Bonanza,
Tab, 1989.
5. Leibson, Steve, The Handbook of
Microcomr>uter,Tab, 1989.
6. Motorola, MC68HC11 Reference Manual,
Motorola, 1991.
7. National Semiconductor Corporation, Linear
Applications Handbook, National
Semiconductor Corporation, 1986.
8. New Micros Inc., NMM Evaluation Board,
New Micros, 1991.

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