Control Systems Lab

Director: Dr. Mert Bal

Locations: Hamilton Campus: Phelps Hall, PHE 100 & PHE 300

The Control Systems Lab in the Department of Engineering Technology contains a variety of laboratory equipment used in design and experimentation of digital and analog electromechanical feedback control systems. The equipment in this lab is mainly used in lab projects of Process Control and Interface Design (ENT 311) and Electromechanical Control Systems (ENT 418) courses.

he topics studied in this lab include principles of digital and analog data acquisition, electro-mechanical interfacing, control systems with embedded microcontrollers and programmable logic controllers, digital communication and networking, feedback control systems, state variable models, higher order system response, transient response, and stability analysis.

Major lab equipment

  • Process Control Training Equipment
  • Magnetic Levitation PID Control System
  • Inverted Pendulum Apparatus
  • Fluid Trainer System
  • Motors And Controllers
  • Ladder Logic Trainer
  • Programmable Logic Controllers (Allen Bradley SLC500)

Lab kits

Some of the equipment used in this lab consists of ‘lab kits’. Each kit belongs to a laboratory project and contains a set of equipment and parts that are used by the students to design, build and test lab project hardware in order to perform experimentation. Typically these laboratory projects are carried out by groups of 2-4 students. Each student group is provided a lab kit to do the laboratory project of the course.

Major lab kits: ENT 311

These lab project kits are used in the Process Control Interface Design Course (ENT 311).

Digital Control Lab Project Kit

  • Arduino UNO Board
  • LEDs and Switches

Analog Data Acquisition (Thermistor) Lab Project Kit

  • 10K Resistor
  • 10K Potentiometer
  • Thermistor

Tank Discharge Coefficient Lab Kit

  • 2 ft-long plastic water tube with digital sensors
  • Water container for excess water
  • Ruler/engineer’s scale to measure tube diameter, heights, etc.
  • Stop watch or equivalent

Stepper Motor-Controlled Printer (X-Y Table) Lab Project Kit

  • Stepper Motor XY Printer/Plotter Table (See the figure below)
  • Microcontroller Board with Relays
  • 5V Power Adapter

Major lab kits: ENT 418

These lab project kits are used in Electromechanical Control Systems (ENT 418). 

Servo Speed Control Lab Kit

Students determine the transfer function of the unit and from this design an interface to control the speed of the motor. Each Lab Kit Includes:

  • DC Motor
  • Motor Stand
  • Speed controller
  • Tachometer
  • Reflective tape

Servo Cam Wheel Balancing Lab Kit

Students design a CAM and use an RC servo to balance the wheel. Each Lab Kit Includes:

  • Caster stand
  • Servo Motor
  • Servo controller
  • Cam paper
  • Caster wheel

Common Equipment

Common equipment in this lab is used for building and testing of various interfacing and control systems lab projects.

  • Microcontroller Boards (CUBLOC & Arduino)
  • LEDs and Switches
  • DC Power supply units
  • Digital Multimeters with RS-232 Interface
  • Resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, and various TTL chips
  • DMMs, oscilloscopes, frequency generators and scope-meters
  • Breadboards and wiring

Software Used in Control Lab Projects

Each laboratory project has a software and programming component. The following software applications are used in order to complement the experiments performed in this lab.

  • Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Matlab Simulink
  • CUBLOC Studio
  • Arduino IDE