Description
The High Fidelity Linear Cart (HFLC) consists of
a cart equipped with a 400 Watt, 3 phase brushless motor. The motor
is equipped with a pinion that drives against a toothed rack such that
the cart moves in a linear fashion. The motor shaft is coupled to an
encoder such that cart position can be measured.
The cart is equipped with two unpowered joints instrumented with optical
encoders. These joints can be used to mount up to two rotating pendula
directly on the cart to perform a variety of experiments of incremental
complexity. One pendulum sensor is mounted directly on top of the cart
such that the rotation of the pendulum rod is limited to +/- 0.55 radians.
The other pendulum sensor is equipped with an extended shaft such that
a pendulum can be suspended to perform self erecting experiments.
The HFLC System contains all the mechanical components required to
perform the following ten experiments:
| 1. |
Linear speed control |
| 2. |
Linear position control |
| 3. |
Single inverted pendulum |
| 4. |
Self erecting single pendulum |
| 5. |
Dual inverted pendulum |
| 6. |
Double inverted pendulum |
| 7. |
Triple inverted pendulum |
| 8. |
Single pendulum gantry |
| 9. |
Double pendulum gantry |
| 10. |
Triple pendulum gantry |
Switching from one configuration to another is attained in seconds.
All system parameters are fully documented. Nonlinear and linear mathematical
models as well as sample functional linear controllers are supplied
for each of the experiments listed above. You can even be creative
and attempt to control a new configuration such as a double pendulum
on one joint and a gantry on the other : now balance the double pendulum
and dampen the swinging of the gantry at the same time!
Difficulty
Advanced Undergrad/ Graduate/ Research
