Shred new light on the mystique of servo motor control ...
FEATURES
| Theory of Operation |
The Solar Tracker PP-500 has a rotary arm, mounted on a center town which can rotates in a horizontal plane. There is a pair of "eyes" at one end of the arm to seek out a bright light source. These "eyes" are actually CdS photoconductive cells with a spectral response similar to that of the human eye. A light bulb is fitted on a lamp post to serve as the light source. The lamp post sits on a cart which can be move around the center town.
The apparatus is fitted with an optical encoder to detect the angular position and velocity of the arm. The arm is driven by a dc motor through a reducing gearhead. The system provides three types of measurements (motor/arm position, motor/arm velocity, light intensities) and two manipulated variables (motor and lamp voltages). Typical actuators and sensing equipment such as PWM amplifiers, optical encoder and light dependent resistors are used.
| Technical Specifications |
| Control inputs | Motor Drive: analog voltage -5V to 5V |
| Bulb Brightness: analog voltage 0V to 5V | |
| Measurements | Arm Position: analog voltage -5V to 5V |
| Arm Speed: analog voltage -5V to 5V | |
| Eyes (or Light Sensors): analog voltage 0 to 5V | |
| Power supply | Voltage: 100-250Vac @ 50/60Hz |
| Power: 45watts (max) | |
| Operating conditions | Normal: 10-25°C @ 45-90%RH |
| Max. Limits: 5-30°C @ 30-90%RH | |
| Transportation & storage limits: 0-70°C @10-95%RH | |
| Dimensions | Structure ø300mm x Height 240mm |
| AC-DC Converter 185mmx140mmx65mm | |
| Weight: <15kg (approx.) |
Specifications may subject to change without notice
| Applications |
The KRi Solar Tracker PP-500 is a low-cost and versatile DC servo system designed for teaching and demonstrating system concepts and practice in control engineering. This apparatus is useful to illustrate a typical servo motor system and study its control implementation on a personal computer or an embedded controller. The student can start with simple algorithms, for example single-loop P or PI, then progress to cascaded P-V for improved response, ... , and eventually investigate on advanced proprietary algorithms/ theories.
An interesting and challenging application is to command the rotary arm to search for and home in onto the light source. This involves different control objectives in two phases. During the search phase, the control objective is most likely velocity control with or without velocity profiling. In the final home phase, the control objective becomes position control. The light source may be kept stationary initially and later move in discrete steps to verify the controller’s performance.
| Software & Hardware Support |
THIS SECTION IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
| Ordering Information |
Solar Tracker, part no.: PP-500
comes with:
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Last Updated 2 February 2003