Design And Development Of Maglev Ball Integrated Experimental Teaching System Based On Photoelectric And Image Sensor

Maglev ball experimental system is commonly used in university laboratories for control science and technology to test classical control theories and advanced control algorithms due to its inherent nonlinearity and unstability. Compared with traditional experimental equipment, the object to be controlled in Maglev ball experimental system is is relatively new and thus becomes popular both in university teaching laboratory and in theoretical research. However, maglev ball system is limited to be used in experimental teaching of single course and is unable to meet various demands of the teaching reform program and talents training program. Up to now, there are relatively rare maglev ball experimental system in which interdisciplinary teaching experiments and research work can be performed.The present work, in the framework of a teaching reform project, aims to develop a maglev ball Integrated experimental system with photoelectric sensor and image sensor, based on GML1001 experimental equipment available in a university lab for control system. The research results are meaningful to the practical teaching,renewing and optimization of experimental resources and equipment. The main work accomplished in this work and conclusions are as following:(1) The hardware platform of maglve ball position detection system is constructed by using LED silicon light sensing device and industrial CMOS camera.The calibration methods of photoelectric position sensor module and the image position sensor module are designed, and the calibration test of both modules are completed.(2) The software framework of the maglev ball integrated experimental teaching system is designed. The programming development environment and necessary modules are analyzed to meet the real-time requirements of image acquisition of moving object and system control. The user interface of log in module, experiment select module, photoelectric-based and image-based control modules, and other auxiliary modules are designed.(3) The software of magnetic levitation ball integrated experimental teaching system is developed on VS C# platform. The photoelectric- and image based detection algorithms are realized and compared to obtain a correlation between data. The control of the magnetic ball position is realized using the same PID controller, with good stability and control performance. Comparison demonstrates the effectiveness ofthe proposed detection methods.(4) The developed magnetic levitation ball integrated experimental teaching system is tested. The results show that the designed photoelectric detection module,the image-based detection module, and the control module meet the requirements of system design. The system is now applied in the experimental training of the students with satisfactory performance.