Stabilizing control for a single pendulum by moving the center of gravity: theory and experiment

For a single pendulum whose weight can be transferred up and down, a stabilizing control law that damps the swing has been developed using Lyapunov's method. In deriving the law, the nonlinearities of the system are considered outright. The control system has a structure where the weight position is changed according to /spl theta/ and /spl theta//spl dot/ (/spl theta/ represents the angular displacement) and uses the Coriolis force favorably. The results of an experimental investigation are also shown.