Advantages and Problems of Developing Unmanned One-Wheel Balancing Robots

Currently, there is an intensive development of various variants of balancing robots, one-wheeled and two-wheeled ones. Two classes of two-wheeled robots can be distinguished: a) as on a Segway; b) as on a bicycle and a motorcycle. Both of these options are structurally unstable systems. Such structures without the use of an effective system of maintaining balance are fundamentally unstable, in the de-energized state they overturn. The equilibrium can be provided by a system with negative feedback. The development of a one-wheeled balancing robot in the version with an existing pilot has already been decided in practice, but driving such a vehicle requires a pilot with certain skills to ride it. In the unmanned version, all actions performed by the pilot must be replaced by an electromechanical system, which, firstly, provides an imbalance in order to set the direction and speed of movement through the system, which maintains this balance due to the rotation of the wheel, secondly, ensures the maintenance of equilibrium in the direction of the axis of this single wheel; thirdly, it forms the necessary effects for turning. Electromechanical propulsion can be a flywheel, a pendulum; one can also use a fan. At high speeds, it is also possible to use aerodynamic forces, for example, wings, but such a solution at the present stage of the development of technology should rather be considered exotic. However, a robot that is almost an aircraft due to lift from fans, wings or an air cushion may be the ideal solution for high-speed movements on a relatively flat surface. In this case, a purely symbolic touch of the ground, perhaps even interrupted when overcoming too deep and (or) short recesses, allows the robot to be classified as a ground-based (or jumping) device, which frees it from the formalities necessary for the legal use of flying unmanned aerial vehicles, formally such device is not flying mean. Accordingly, the movement of such a robot should be tied to the landmarks and possibilities of the route, its functions are also associated with ground objects, and the possibility of a short-term flight is only an additional bonus. These considerations make it relevant to consider such a way to resolve the issue of stabilizing the equilibrium of a one-wheeled robot, such as the use of lifting force of fans. However, the presence of the wheel creates other possibilities for the load-carrying capacity of the device, and so on; short-term hover by inertia requires completely different energy costs than continuous flight. The purpose of this study is to develop a set of technical proposals for the implementation of high-speed unmanned robot for informational purposes: information gathering (video, audio, electrometer, etc.), as well as for the removal and delivery of small loads. The objectives of the study are to analyze the existing technical solutions and a motivated proposal for the basic principles of the design of the specified balancing robot. A key feature of such robots should be steady motion in an unmanned version along a predetermined trajectory over rough terrain, including the slope of the terrain both in the direction of motion and in the direction orthogonal to the direction of motion.