Tomorrow's Smart City Personal Transporter: An autonomous Hoverboard Robot

Abstract

The growing populations of various major cities have resulted in traffic congestion, high energy consumption, and increased pollution rates. Automated vehicles connected to the city network for data and decisions can alleviate some of these issues. This paper presents the acceleration-based stabilizing controllers of an autonomous nonholonomic hoverboard robot derived from the total potential using the Lyapunov-based Control Scheme (LbCS). The derived controllers enable the hoverboard robot to navigate autonomously while avoiding static obstacles to reach its target, where it achieves its equilibrium state. The effectiveness of the developed controllers was validated through computer simulations using Wolfram Mathematica software. This theoretical exposition could be used as fundamental work for a real prototype robot that could be used as a personal transport that consumes less energy, has greater reachability, and ensures safety and riders' comfortability, hence contributing towards smart city goals.