Quanser’s
2 DOF Helicopter is making
significant contributions every day in control labs all around the world. The
experiment provides an economical Hardware-in-the-Loop test bed to understand
and develop control laws for a vehicle that has the pitch and yaw dynamics
representative of a tethered rigid body helicopter, spacecraft or underwater
vehicle.
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| Quanser's 2 DOF Helicopter is an economical Hardware-in-the-Loop testbed to develop controllers for vehicles that have the dynamics representative of a tethered, rigid body helicopter, spacecraft or underwater vehicle. |
The 2 DOF Helicopter works seamlessly within both
MATLAB®/ Simulink® or
LabVIEW™ environments and
is built to high quality standards, allowing it to stand up to long term use. Given
these factors, it’s not surprising that educators and researchers have found it
to be an efficient tool for advancing both their teaching and research.
Here’s a look at how some undergraduates, professors and
researchers are using this versatile experiment.
Federal University
of Itajuba, Brazil: Optimal Control Research
His line of research is based on new optimal control
approaches using H2 and H infinity synthesis, with a focus on the exploration
of new properties which can be reached through state-of-art techniques in
multivariable feedback control.
This research has been funded by
FAPEMIG, a research agency in the state of
Minas Gerais, Brazil. The research team decided an aerospace plant was the best
choice for practical testing because these systems are naturally good examples
of multivariable feedback control applications.
The setup with the Quanser 2 DOF Helicopter model, along
with Quanser’s
QUARC®
rapid control prototyping software allows the research team to highlight its
unique dynamic properties, which are the basis of their practical tests, and
evaluate and prove the main results of the new approaches proposed in their
major researches.
As Professor Henrique told us, “the reasons we chose a
Quanser solution included, but were not limited to, the following: the high quality
of the components used in the model; the open architecture design of the
Quanser system which allowed us to integrate the system with commercial
scientific software; and the proven reliability of Quanser systems, along with their
reputation as solutions for control systems applications.”
Northwestern
Polytechnical University, China: Autonomous Aircraft Control Research
A member of
Northwestern
Polytechnical University’s Department of Control and Information
Engineering, Automation School, Professor Li Aijun is focused on control theory
research and autonomous aircraft control research.
Professor Aijun uses the Quanser 2DOF Helicopter to teach
controls to his undergraduates, while his graduate students also use it as an
experimental test bed. His lab includes two Quanser 2 DOF Helicopters, the
QPID
hardware-in-the-loop control board, the
VoltPAQ-X2
amplifier and Quanser’s QUARC® rapid control prototyping software. Professor
Aijun favours the Quanser solution because he and his students find the
MATLAB/Simulink –based controller design process easy and intuitive.
Ohio State University,
USA: A Video Showing the 2 DOF Helicopter Used in a Student Project
The following is a video produced by
Ohio State University students showing a Quanser
2 DOF Helicopter tracking a joystick under LQR+integrator+observer control.
View the video:
To learn more about the Quanser 2 DOF Helicopter,
click here.
If you are looking for ways to make teaching controls more engaging and effective, the new interactive webcast series presented by National Instruments is a great opportunity to explore latest solutions for hands-on controls teaching and get useful tips from your peers.
