Inverted wheel type moving body and method of controlling same

An inverted wheel type moving body to travel in accordance with a manipulation amount manipulated by an operator comprising:

• a chassis to rotatably support at least one wheel;
• a first drive portion to rotatably drive the wheel;
• a body portion rotatably supported on the chassis through a support member;
• a second drive portion that moves a relative position of the body portion with respect to the chassis in front and back directions from an initial position by driving the body portion, each of the front and back directions being a direction to which the moving body is movable;
• a decision portion to determine whether the manipulation amount exceeds a restriction zone defined by a threshold value;
• a first control portion to carry out feedback control on the first drive portion such that the first drive portion follows a target control value corresponding to the manipulation amount while maintaining the inverted wheel type moving body at the inverted state, the target control value being correlated with a target velocity or a target acceleration of the moving body;
• and
• a second control portion to control the second drive portion such that the relative position of the body portion moves in the same direction with a moving direction of the moving body according to the manipulation amount, the moving direction of the moving body being the front direction or the back direction and determined based on the manipulation amount,
• wherein, while the manipulation amount is within the restriction zone, the second driving portion inclines the body portion increasingly forward with a forward-moving manipulation amount and inclines the body portion increasingly backward with a backward-moving manipulation amount, such that the greatest forward inclination angle of the body portion occurs at a forward edge of the restriction zone and the greatest backward inclination angle of the body portion occurs at a backward edge of the restriction zone,
• wherein, while the manipulation amount exceeds the restriction zone, the second driving portion drives the body portion so as to return the relative position of the body portion to the initial position, and
• wherein, while the manipulation amount exceeds the restriction zone, the first control portion controls the first drive portion such that the moving body follows the target velocity or the target acceleration, which increases in proportion to the manipulation amount.