About balancing with reaction wheels

One wheel, two wheel, three wheel, unicycle, bicycle, prism, cube.
More about this balancing robots you can see in another my videos.

[@patrickjdarrow]

Love this entire series (the cat too)

[@suprvideo]

Incredible! Those is what I've been craving in your videos - showing how stable they are when perturbed. You do incredible work.

[@CorollaGTSSRX]

STOP TEASING ALL OF US! SOURCE CODE PLEASE :) Still can't believe you make all of these in your free time. Seriously jealous

[@cheeseinmypocketsvelveeta2195]

I love how you asked us if your idea would work at the end. I'm sure you know better than any of us :)

[@lepermunna]

very thorough work, thanks for sharing your results and for trying some of these interesting variations. super interesting that the wheel saturate with constant rotation rate, counter-intuitive!

[@OhHeyTrevorFlowers]

Yes, amazing and neat engineering. But... that luxurious cat!

[@upavla]

You are a great fellow. Please share your projects

[@jbrownson]

So cool, thanks for sharing!

[@machine2747]

Amazing work. Please consider developing plans to sell to makers. I would definitely buy a set of plans.

[@liemph]

Awesome, I learned a lot from your videos. Theoretically, if you apply LQR method and minimize the energy then the motors should stop or rotate at minimal speeds. One thing that I had checked with my own experiments is that the distance between the ground and the CM, as you said, is an important parameter. Two degrees seems small but it is adequate for your systems where no big external disturbance expected. I am thinking about lowering the CM by placing the motor nearer to the ground and couple the motor with a belt to the reaction wheel.

[@ReMRC]

Placing the motor nearer to the ground - good thing.

[@Rossobimbo]

Great job, they all look really good.

[@ahmedalbannai7127]

Thank your for uploading such videos! If you don’t mind, do you have tutorials on how to build these and different codes used?

[@ReMRC]

No tutorials in this time. Maybe later.

[@OwenWilliamsRobotics]

Thanks for the vid. Inspiring!

[@Dagor]

Truly inspiring.

[@WaynesStrangeBrain]

Have you considered giving the tips of the cubes like rubber tips and bearings? Love your projects

[@ReMRC]

Maybe I not correct understand... Rubber tips? Who needs it? Prevent slipping?

[@brandonbreault6243]

Is there any chance I could link up with you somehow? I've got a large project that will require a reaction wheel for balancing and hope you may be able to provide some assistance. Amazing builds! I love how you demonstrate each progressive iteration, each with their own complications and hurdles. Keep it up!

[@RuggeroCappello90]

Great job! By watching some of your videos I learned your are using Nidec 24H motors, although, as I live in Italy I can't seem to get my hands on them. Would you be kind enough to tell me what I should be looking for when buying encoded bldc motors for such a project? Did you consider any other, even more expensive, model?

[@ReMRC]

Many model of motors could be used. My choice is the simplest and cheapest. But not best if you want best result.

[@roncannella9531]

On the one on the other balancing: I think the sum of the errors will go over your 2 degree tolerance fast and cause the top one to fail. Also what force the bottom one will exert on the base point of the top one, and the force the base of the top will exert on the bottom... That will cause additional error rates I would think. It will be interesting to see how it reacts.

[@ReMRC]

You draw the right conclusions. Remember how the cube balancing on the opposite vertex? Not very well. Why? :)

[@rvsamsung77]

Is it possible to balance one cube on top of another? That would be awesome. Great videos btw

[@PavelGrund]

Good work!

[@forbiddenera]

I would really love to discuss a project I'm working on with you or at least can you share more about control? I basically want to build the unicycle but scaled up a bit.

[@geep6910]

god this shit is so cool how do you only have 3k subs

[@StormBurnX]

5:13 kitty's face is quite cute

[@deanssculptures4294]

Nice!

[@TheJacklwilliams]

Ok, i'm going to make a stupid comment. I'm guessing the nuts/boltsx around the wheel's is to add weight for force. They appear to be evenly spaced. Was this an apply/test method or did you arrive at a specific weight before hand mathematically?

[@ReMRC]

Yes, with bolts/nuts I can change wheels weight. I don’t use a mathematical model. Lots of testing and knowing how it works.

[@karstenramcke6637]

Unbelivable😀

[@metrototowndelivery7369]

Really jenius

[@4NowIsGood]

Would you have more control if the weights were in a spiral instead of a circle simulating as if you can extend your arms to catch your balance as it turns?

[@ReMRC]

In my opinion, it would not help.

[@iansdiyquestions2250]

very very impressive

[@skydriver2639]

Thanks for the content. So in the end, is it better for the motors to be higher or lower? My guess is that the higher the better (motor would do less work), but also means higher instability thus rougher stabilization.

[@ReMRC]

Sorry. I did not write correctly. It is not the height of the motors that matters, but the height of the maximum weight. And the motors weigh the most. The weight should be below as possible.

[@32lkrpo2fjm]

Balancing with rotating wheels should be easier in the same way as balancing on a bicycle that is moving is easier than when it is stationary. If you hold the center of a bicycle wheel with your hands and change its orientation, you will feel how easy it is. Now rotate the wheel so that it is in motion, and try to change the orientation again. You will feel a clear difference. However, your algorithm probably needs tuning to better handle the increased inertia.

[@ReMRC]

I think you are talking about a gyroscopic effect. Reaction wheel is another thing.

[@nicholaspalladino1319]

Do you think you could use propellers in addition to the reaction wheels to prevent saturation while rotating?

[@ReMRC]

No, that wouldn't help.

[@KatherIbrahim]

I'm waiting

[@4NowIsGood]

What is the significance of the pattern of the weights on the wheels. I see they are not all around the wheels..?

[@ReMRC]

Weight - very important. With bolts and nuts I can easily change the weight to find what is best. Theoretically more weight is better, but this increase overall construction weight, whish is not good.

[@TheGhost13X]

Hello, do you model these systems? Or how do you tune your controllers? Could you share something about it? Thank you!

[@ReMRC]

Only experience after try and errors.

[@АнтонСапрыкин-н5ц]

Есть бесконечное желание собрать такой же куб. но сам не за что не смогу написать такой код и разобраться в электронике. По этому прошу как и все остальные по возможности поделится кодом и выложить информацию по сборке (железо, схемы и т.д.) Спасибо.

[@flightready1587]

Nice! At timer 1:36, any software code available for that behavior? Thanks.

[@ReMRC]

I did many experiments, and this is the previous code. Not where github is. Maybe I'll add this feature later. But it needs to change a lot and it takes time...

[@amologusmogusmogumogu2535]

Would these work in vacuum?

[@ReMRC]

Yes. But if you mean space without gravity - no.

[@amologusmogusmogumogu2535]

@@ReMRC How will these ever work in vacuum? The rotating wheel don't even come in contact with air. How would it influence motion?

[@ReMRC]

@@amologusmogusmogumogu2535 No, air is not needed here. When wheel rotation speed is changed, causes the spacecraft to begin to counter-rotate proportionately. Inertia effect. Balancing cube work little otherwise, but the principle is the same.

[@hughhouse136]

Are these for sale? Extremely Kool!

[@ReMRC]

I do not sell them. Just a hobby.

[@ritnerritner1]

Do you have any plans or instructions to build? would love to build one myself

[@liemph]

It is not a complete instruction or build but you can check this kzbin.info/www/bejne/fp7IhGqAZ7V3kMk and kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJWuo3mLp9iDg5Y . The dimensions and masses can be estimated by the Meccano standard. Anyway, these are much more primitive than those of ReM-RC.

[@TheGhost13X]

@@liemph Did you model the system with PID controller or it's handtuned? Thank you!

[@liemph]

@@TheGhost13X Handtuned. It required a lot of time. I have no access to Matlab or other licensed softwares to model the system and tuning the PID controller.

[@forbiddenera]

Which motors are you using? Encoders? Imu? Just pid?

[@ReMRC]

More about this projects in another my videos...

[@forbiddenera]

@@ReMRC I do see that but I'd love to see some code or something. The "unicycle" one you made is like a perfect proof of concept for the bot I've been wanting to make..would be awesome if I could print the parts and duplicate it for research 😀

[@teruru3158]

Please tell me how to control this precise balancing machine. I guess PID control or Optimal control(u=Kx).

[@ReMRC]

PID can be used. I do not know what is "Optimal control". I need to learn... :)

[@teruru3158]

@@ReMRC Thank you for your reply, and sorry to reply late. I read a comment that you use LQR control. And I have two questions.... 1. What are the state values of "equation of state"? 2. Can your bldc motors control torque ? I respect your great work...

[@ReMRC]

@@teruru3158 1. LQR coefficients? It makes no sense at all. It will never fit another system 2. No.

[@mostafasaad9728]

Can you share the code ? (if possible)

[@ВладимирЯсенко-щ9ч]

hi, I also want to make such a cube, where should I start?

[@ReMRC]

I started with two-wheel balancing robots. Also some of my projects with reaction wheels are open source...

[@ВладимирЯсенко-щ9ч]

@@ReMRCthank you:)

[@jakobkatrasnik8684]

I tried to make this kind of cube about a year ago and I failed, is there any way for you to share files and instructions on how to make it?

[@ReMRC]

You tried before something like this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/pILSe32Vq82XjZo

[@jakobkatrasnik8684]

@@ReMRC Yes, this is the first thing that I tried to make work but I think I used wrong kind of motor. I used similar motors to the ones used in drones. The only thing that I managed to do was to brake it so it "jumped" up but then it just falled back down... I designed whole cube and 3D printed it and made wheels from aluminium and all.

[@ReMRC]

@@jakobkatrasnik8684 Drone motors are not suitable for this...

[@jakobkatrasnik8684]

@@ReMRC yes I now that, but I don't know what motors should I use for it to work. What motors did you use?

[@ReMRC]

@@jakobkatrasnik8684 After all, I wrote in all projects what motors are used.

[@pelletierjulien3842]

Hi can you give me the reference of motor used please

[@ReMRC]

Nidec 24H.

[@pelletierjulien3842]

@@ReMRC thanks !