MagNav: A Dual-Core Magnetic Track Guidance Framework for Lighting-Invariant Navigation in Two-Wheeled Robots

What happened

arXiv:2609.36091v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Two-Wheeled Inverted Pendulum (TWIP) robots are useful for studying how to control systems that are naturally unstable and have fewer actuators than degrees of freedom. Adding autonomous line-following to these robots is challenging because steering and balancing are closely linked.

Most existing systems use infrared sensors, which can be affected by changes in lighting, such as sunlight or shadows, making them reliable only indoors. This paper presents a self-balancing robot that can follow a line using a magnetic track guidance system.

The control system operates with a cascaded PID structure: the inner loop keeps the robot balanced using data from an inertial measurement unit with a complementary filter, while the outer loop adjusts steering based on the magnetic sensor readings. Stepper motors provide precise torque control without needing extra rotary encoders.

Key facts

• The control system — uses: a cascaded PID structure: the inner loop keeps the robot balanced using data from an inertial measurement unit with a complementary filter, while the outer loop adjusts steering based on the magnetic sensor readings