This experiment enables the students to explore set-point angular position control of a link driven by a DC motor. A proportional-derivative controller is used to achieve set-point tracking. In the following control panel Kp denotes the proportional gain and Kd denotes the derivative gain. By varying these gains you can study the effect of these gains on the position tracking response of the DC motor system. An additional control knob is provided to implement and vary an integral control gain Ki. Before starting the experiment from the control/animation panel, set the control gain knobs to their tested design values Kp=0.5056, Kd=-0.4931, and Ki=0.

You can select the desired link position by turning the knob labeled command deg. The plot given in the control panel provides the link position response. For additional details on the algorithmic implementation of this controller see the Real-Time Control Laboratory Manual - Experiment 3.

You can change the viewpoint for the animation window as follows. First, place the mouse cursor in the animation window. Next, click the left mouse button and drag the mouse to get the viewpoint you prefer. You can also resize the object being animated by pressing the "Alt" button on your keyboard, placing the mouse cursor in the animation window, clicking the left mouse button, and dragging the mouse.

Click the "Enter Here" link to enter the DC motor Control Design Web Panel: Enter Here

Instructions on operating the control design web panel

The DC motor control design web panel allows users to compute the DC motor PID controller gains by supplying (via an html form) a desired step command and a desired performance specification. After clicking on the Compute Control Gains button, a supplementary page will load onto the web panel providing:

a set of PID controller gains. a high-fidelity simulation plot of the DC motor dynamics under control action. an illustrative step-by-step matlab script that details the computation of the controller gains.

The simulation plot may not be the most recently generated figure (due to the web browser's internal memory cache). Please refresh the web browser or clear the web browser's internal cache to view an updated simulation plot.

To view a sample movie of the DC motor experiment, click on the following link: