A Comprehensive Survey on Linear Quadratic Regulator Control for Unicycle Robots: Experimental Insights

VERSION OF RECORD ONLINE: 15/09/2025

Authors

Corressponding author's email:

20151362@student.hcmute.edu.vn

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54644/jte.2025.1649

Keywords:

Unicycle, LQR control, PID control, Balance control, Self-balance

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on the application of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control for stabilizing a unicycle robot, or one-wheel mobile robot, a prominent example in the unicycle-type mobile robot group. Although inherently unstable, it offers several advantages over multi-wheeled, statically stable robots, such as requiring less space due to its single point of ground contact. The unicycle robot features two axes representing the two models used for analysis: the roll axis, modeled as an inverted pendulum controlled by the wheel, and the pitch axis, modeled as a reaction wheel inverted pendulum controlled by a reaction disk. LQR technique is a great method for developing a controller for nonlinear systems. Our approach involves designing, implementing, and evaluating LQR controllers with varied weighting matrices to assess their impact on system performance. Case studies are conducted by adjusting the weighting matrices of the LQR controllers and comparing each configuration with the initial LQR. Experimental results provide insights into the effectiveness of LQR for achieving robust control of unicycle robots.

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Author Biographies

Thi Ai Van Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Thi Ai Van Nguyen (Student ID: 20151108). She is a student of the Faculty of High-Quality Training, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE). She is interested in researching nonlinear control and intelligent control for systems.

Email: 20151108@student.hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0337-147X

Dinh Hau Vu, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Dinh Hau Vu (Student ID: 20151362). He is a student of the Faculty of High-Quality Training, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE). He is interested in researching nonlinear control and intelligent control for systems.

Email: 20151362@student.hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2609-618X

Van Thuyen Ngo, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Van Thuyen Ngo currently works at University of Technology and Education Ho Chi Minh as Chairman of the board. He received the Ph.D. degree in automation and control engineering from University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia in 2008. He was recognized as an Associate Professor by the State Council for Professorship in 2018. His research interests are fuzzy systems, intelligent control, observer and controller design for uncertain system, automation in industrial, SCADA.

Email: thuyen.ngo@hcmute.edu.vn, thuyennv@hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2605-7787

Tran Minh Nguyet Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Tran Minh Nguyet Nguyen received B.S. degree in electrical-electronics engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2024 and M.S. degree in control and automation engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2009. She is currently a lecturer with Department of Automatic Control, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE), Vietnam. She is also the member of the Dynamics and Robotic Control (DRC) laboratory. Her research interests include intelligent control, nonlinear control and robotics.

Email: nguyetntm@hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8707-3036

Vi Do Tran, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Vi Do Tran received the Master degree in Electrical Engineering from the HCM University of Technology and Education, Vietnam, in 2015. He received the PhD in Bio Robotics at the Bio Robotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy in 2018. His research interests are in the fields of rehabilitation robotics, assistive technologies and human-robot interaction From December 2018 until now, he has worked as a lecturer at the HCM University of Technology and Education, Vietnam.

Email: dotv@hcmnute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9836-8118

Dinh Phu Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Dinh Phu Nguyen He was born in Vietnam in 1972. He graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education with a B.S degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1995 and a M.S degree in Electronic and Communication from Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic University, in 2003. Since 1995, he has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education. His research interests include the design of microcontroller practice kits, digital practice kits, microcontroller application controllers and FPGA chips. He has written teaching books on microprocessors, practical books on microcontrollers, and practicing digital IC design using VHDL.

Email address: phund@hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4761-4777

Van Dong Hai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Van Dong Hai Nguyen currently works at the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic, University of Technology and Education Ho Chi Minh. He received the B.S. degree in automation and control engineering from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam in 2009; the M.S. degree in automation and control engineering from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in automation and control engineering from University of Craiova, Rumani in 2018. Since 2012, he has been a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education and Technology, Vietnam. His research interests are fuzzy systems, intelligent control, observer and controller design for uncertain system.

Email: hainvd@hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7726-5128

Minh Tai Vo, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Minh Tai Vo is currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering 2, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He previously served as a senior technical officer at RMIT University Vietnam and as an automation engineer at Intel Products Vietnam, with tenures of 1.5 years and 3 years, respectively. He earned his BEng degree in Automation and Control Engineering Technology from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE) in 2020 and an MSc degree in Control Engineering and Automation from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), VNU-HCM, in 2024. His research interests focus on control engineering.

Email: taivm@ptit.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5463-2500

Binh Hau Nguyen, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Binh Hau Nguyen currently works as a lecturer at the Electronics Department 2 of the Posts and Telecommunications Institute. He received his Master's degree in Control and Automation from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in 2018. His research interests include industrial robotics, SCADA systems, system balancing, and control of systems such as the inverted pendulum and industrial robots.

Email: haunb@ptit.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7231-0343

Minh Tam Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

Minh Tam Nguyen was born in Ben Tre province, Vietnam. He received the Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia in 2010. His research interests include system modeling, intelligent and robust control, soft-computing, and power system control.

Email: tamnm@hcmute.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8230-1373

References

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D. H. Vu et al., “A Survey of Linear Control for Unicycle Robot,” Robotica & Management, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 45-54, 2024, doi: 10.24193/rm.2024.1.8

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Published

15-09-2025

How to Cite

Nguyen, T. A. V., Vu, D. H., Ngo, V. T., Nguyen, T. M. N., Tran, V. D., Nguyen, D. P., Nguyen, V. D. H., Vo, M. T., Nguyen, B. H., & Nguyen, M. T. (2025). A Comprehensive Survey on Linear Quadratic Regulator Control for Unicycle Robots: Experimental Insights: VERSION OF RECORD ONLINE: 15/09/2025. Journal of Technical Education Science. https://doi.org/10.54644/jte.2025.1649

Issue

2025: Articles in Press

Section

Research Article

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