SCHTICK

A reaction wheel inverted pendulum built using an ESP32, MPU6050, and custom reaction wheel assembly.

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Overview

SCHTICK began as an attempt to stabilize a reaction wheel inverted pendulum using modern control techniques.

The original workflow was:

1. System Identification
2. State-Space Modeling
3. LQR Control
4. PID Control
5. Limit Cycle Exploration

While simulation results were promising, real-world hardware constraints revealed several practical limitations involving actuator authority, parameter estimation uncertainty, and model mismatch.

This repository documents both the successes and failures encountered during development.

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Hardware

• ESP32
• MPU6050 IMU
• DC Motor + Reaction Wheel
• H-Bridge Motor Driver
• Custom 3D Printed Structure

Additional details can be found in:

• parts/
• assembly/

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Repository Structure

docs/                   Project documentation

matlab/
├── sysid/
├── modeling/
├── lqr/
├── pid/

src/
├── sysid/
├── control/
├── lqr/
├── pid/
├── limit_cycle/

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Results

LQR

• Successful in simulation
• Failed to consistently stabilize hardware

PID

• Achieved short-duration balancing (~3 seconds)
• Revealed actuator authority limitations

Limit Cycles

• Currently being explored as an alternative control strategy

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Documentation

Detailed project notes are available in:

• docs/control_artifacts.md
• docs/system_identification.md
• docs/modeling.md
• docs/lqr_controller.md
• docs/pid_controller.md
• docs/limit_cycling.md
• docs/lessons_learned.md
• docs/future_directions.md

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Key Takeaway

The hardest part of this project was not designing the controller.

It was understanding why mathematically correct controllers behaved differently once real hardware constraints entered the picture.

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License

MIT License