Accelerometer-based tilt estimation of a rigid body with only rotational degrees of freedom

Abstract— An estimation algorithm is developed for determining pitch and roll angles (tilt) of a rigid body fixed at a pivot using multiple accelerometers. The estimate is global, optimized to reduce effects of sensor noise, and independent of the rigid body dynamics. No dynamic model is required for this estimator; only the mounting positions of the sensors need to be known. As an extension, the accelerometer-based estimate is fused with rate gyro data in order to further reduce the noise level of the estimate. The estimation algorithm is applied to the problem of state estimation for the Balancing Cube, a cube that can actively balance on any one of its corners. Experimental results are provided.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Sebastian Trimpe, Raffaello D'Andrea
• Keywords: Estimation Algorithm, ICRA 2010, Rigid Body, Rigid Body Dynamics, Robotics