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REPORT ON EUIPMENT TO BE PURCHASED

Ashutosh Jaiswal
I.INTRODUCTION:
This report consists of a detailed explanation of the prospective equipment that
could be used in the experiments of Control System Laboratory. Four companies have
been contacted in order to evaluate the price and the shipping periods for various
equipments. The companies are,

1) Quanser Website: www.quanser.com


2) Feedback Inc. Website: www.feedbackinc.com
3) ECP Systems. Website: www.ecpsystems.com
4) Bytronics. Website: www.bytronic.net

II. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

1.1 Quanser Products:


Quanser has various ranges of products which can be implemented for our control
system laboratory. The primary advantage of Quanser is the reliable prices along with
wide range and comparatively faster production and shipping time. Most of the
equipment on Quanser is compatible with Labview. In fact almost all the equipment is
compatible with the E-series DAQ cards and our lab has DAQ 6024 E on our Labview
workstations. But apparently, Quanser has a limited range of products which are
compatible with NI ELVIS. The list of products compatible with NI ELVIS on Quanser
can be found in the link,
http://www.quanser.com/english/html/challenges/fs_chall_labview_flash.htm
Given below are the details of each of the possible products,

1.1.a ) Magnetic Levitation System:


The Magnetic Levitation System is a very good experiment because of it wide
range of experimental applications. This is not compatible with NI ELVIS but can be
interfaced with Labview, compatible with any E-series DAQ card. However, Maglev
equipment will also require a power supply ( Universal Power Supply), which may later
be used for other equipments too. This equipment will also require a Terminal board in
order to be used with the DAQ card. The 3 accessories for this equipment will be,
a) Magnetic Levitation System
b) Terminal Board (NI) –NI series, E series terminal board
c) UPM 2405 – Universal Power Module (24 V, 5 A)
Quoted Price:
The price quoted for each of these in Quanser is,
Fig 1: Magnetic Levitation System

Fig 2: Universal power module Fig 3: NI-E series terminal board

Some possible experiments that can be performed with Maglev,


• Electrical system modeling : To derive the mathematical model of MAGLEV
electrical system which will provide a open loop transfer function, which in turn
will be used to design an appropriate controller.
• Electro-Mechanical System Modelling: Non-Linear Equation of Motion(EOM)
• Electro-Mechanical System Modelling: EOM Linearization and Transfer
function: Design and implement a linear position controller for our system, the
Laplace open-loop transfer function can be derived. However by definition, such
a transfer function can only represent system dynamics from a linear differential
equation. Therefore, The EOM found in Exp # 2 showld be linearized around a
quiescent point of operation.
• Coil Current Controller Design: Pole Placement: Prior to control the steel ball
position, the current flowing through the electromagnet needs to be controlled.
• Ball position Controller design: Pole placement
• Real-Time implementation: Tuning of the PI current Control loop
• Real time implementation: Tuning of the Feed forward-plus-PIV position control
Loop
• Root Locus design methods
• Intelligent control

1.1.b) QNET D.C Motor Control:


This is one of the most easy and appropriate experiments for undergraduate level
and introductory level. While Maglev can be used towards the end of the laboratory
curriculum (assuming lab experiments are performed with increased level of complexity),
DC motor control can be used for basic feed back control system understanding. The
QNET DC Motor Control Trainer has been designed to illustrate the fundamentals of DC
motor control. It can quickly and easily be configured for a range of hardware-in-the-loop
experiments including system ID, speed and position control. The best feature of this
equipment is that it is fully compatible with NI ELVIS . Moreover, it is reasonable
cheaper and does not require any extra accessories. The equipment for this product will
be,
a) QNET-010-Quanser NI Elvis DC Motor control

Quoted price for this equipment is,


Fig 4: DC Motor trainer kit

Possible Experiments with this equipment are,

• Position & Speed Control


• Disturbance Rejection
• Tracking Control & Regulation
• PID Controller Design
• Lead / Lag Compensation
• State-Feedback
• System Modeling & Simulation
• Frequency Analysis
• Phase & Gain Margin
• Root Locus Design
• Nyquist Stability
• Hardware-in-the-Loop
• Discrete Time Sampling
• System Identification
• Multivariable Control Design
• Haptics & Force Feedback

1.1.c) HVAC Trainer Kit:

The HVAC trainer kit gives a more real time application feel to the students.
Experiments like Maglev and D.C motor control may be looked upon as class room
oriented experiments. Temperature control may be looked upon as an exciting application
because it is seen regularly by students in air conditioning applications and this is a text
book example which is widely used in explaining the feedback control systems. The
QNET HVAC Trainer teaches students how to design a control system that regulates
temperature in a chamber using the NI ELVIS workstation & LabVIEW interface. The
trainer features a chamber equipped with a temperature sensor, heat source, and fan. The
equipment for this product is,

a) QNET - 012 - Quanser NI-ELVIS HVAC Trainer

Quoted Price for this is,

Fig 5: HVAC trainer kit

Possible Experiments:
• Tracking Control & Regulation
• Disturbance Rejection
• PID Controller Design
• Robust Control (H-infinity, µ-Synthesis, Sliding Mode)
• Intelligent Control (Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, AI)
• State-Space Design (State-Feedback, Observer)
• Frequency Analysis (Bode and Nyquist Methods, Lead-Lag)
• Root Locus Design
• Multivariable Control Design
• System Modeling & Simulation (Coupled Dynamics)
• System Identification (MISO)
• Hardware-in-the-Loop
• Discrete Time Sampling

ESTIMATED SHIPPING TIME FOR ALL QUANSER PRODUCTS:Within 30 days

TOTAL EXPENSES FOR THESE THREE EQUIPMENTS: $ 9234.23

Based on the prices available with Quanser and based on the shipping options,
with the limited budget, Quanser products seem to be the best option for our laboratory.
As the probability of getting these products from Quanser is more, a detailed presentation
of products from other companies is not presented. A very brief table is given.

III. COMPARISON
Table 1: Comparision of different companies

COMPANY Product Availa Price Shipping Reliability


NAME Name bility time
(Excluding (days)
accessories)

1) QUANSER MagLev YES $2752.61 <30 Moderate


DC Motor YES $1842.75 <30 Moderate
HVAC YES $1842.75 <30 Moderate
Spring Mass NO - - -
Damper
2) FEEDBACK MagLev YES $4495.00 <60 Moderate
DC Motor YES $4841.00 <60 Moderate
HVAC NO - - -
Spring Mass NO - - -
Damper
3) ECP SYS MagLev YES >$8000 >30<60 High
DC Motor YES >$8000 >30<60 High
HVAC NO - - -
Spring Mass YES >$8000 >30<60 High
Damper
4) BYTRONIC MagLev YES $5500.00 <60 Moderate
DC Motor YES $3500.00 <60 Moderate
HVAC NO - - -
Spring Mass NO - - -
Damper
The only product which may be interesting from ECP Systems is the Spring mass
damper system. It will give a good understanding of kinematics based control systems
and can be related to class room problems easily. It serves to vividly demonstrate both
lumped parameter dynamics and generic control issues. This system appears commonly
in dynamics and controls text books and serves as a benchmark for control method
evaluation. The mechanism features adjustable masses, interchangeable springs and
adjustable air damping. This system provides vivid demonstrations of elementary topics
such as rigid body PID control, lead/lag compensators, phase and gain margin, trajectory
tracking, and regulation - as well as advanced high order collocated and noncollocated
system control.
The picture of the system is shown in Fig 6

Fig 6: Spring Mass damper from ECP Systems

III. CONCLUSION
Based on the price quotes, equipment availability, shipping times and most
importantly the available budget, products from Quanser seem to be an optimal choice.
As far as the equipment is concerned, Maglev, DC Motor Trainer kit and HVAC trainer
would be the most ideal choices, based on the curriculum and most importantly the
product’s compatibility with Labview (NI Elvis in particular). As far as other companies
are concerned then their equipment is designed mostly to be interfaced with
Matlab/Simulink. Considering the degree of complexity, compatibility and the expenses,
Quanser would be an ideal choice for the above mentioned equipments in Quanser.
Another facility provided by Quanser is that they are willing to send in a technician in
case there is a problem in setting up an equipment in the lab. However, the charges would
be about $500.

Appendix:
1) Find attached product information sheets for Quanser,
A. Maglev
B. DC motor control
C. HVAC Trainer
2) Quote sheet from Quanser
3) Quote sheet from Feedback

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