Pogo, the Balancing Robot

I had this vision that it would be very cool to have a small monopod bot that I could drop on the floor and that would balance itself.  Once that was accomplished then it could hop, or roll, or who knows what.  Sounded like a challenging project that could maybe be accomplished.

I realized soon after that I was into a very complex arena.  Physics doctorates had spent most of their careers trying to solve similar problems.  The "inverted pendulum" problem, which my vision is somewhat akin to, has become a mainstay of the PhD thesis business.

As of this time I have a 2D setup that can right itself within a constrained region of operation.  I have an understanding where to go and I'll chip away as I get time.  I kept a running "Anatomy of a Project" going that describes what I've done to date in detail.  The breadboard has a ATMEGA163 thats doing all the calcs.  Thats a battery attached to a chopstick attached to a servo that acts as the balance weight.  The red tape below the servo is holding the electrolytic tilt sensor in place.  That is what is used to sense position, velocity and acceleration.