Abstract
A ball and beam balancing mechanism actuated by a pneumatic rotary drive is presented in this paper. A laboratory model of the pneumatically actuated ball and beam system has been developed within student projects during courses related to mechatronics and automatic control. A mathematical model of the nonlinear system is developed using Lagrange's equations. The model is linearized at the equilibrium point, and the linear model has been implemented for the design of control algorithms. The cascade proportional derivative (PD) controller and the optimal linear quadratic regulator have been applied and experimentally verified. The utilization of a pneumatic actuator introduces additional dynamic terms and nonlinear effects, and that makes the balancing mechanism even more difficult to control. The methods discussed in this paper have good potential application to other control techniques and offer great possibilities for giving students a better understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of nonlinear system control.
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