Fuzzy control of an inverted pendulum with fuzzy compensation of friction forces

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to compare the stabilization, with friction compensation, of an unstable mechanical system, an inverted pendulum, by two methods: the state feedback method, which belongs to the mathematical model-based approach, and fuzzy control. In both cases, the friction forces are compensated either by a simple method, the switching of a constant threshold, or a more sophisticated one: a disturbance observer in the model-based approach and a fuzzy compensator in the fuzzy control situation. The results obtained with the latter are comparable with or even better than those obtained with the former.