Baltimore , Maryland
June 25, 2023
June 25, 2023
June 28, 2023
Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
15
10.18260/1-2--43504
https://peer.asee.org/43504
276
Ms. Bhawana Bhatta is a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Youngstown State University (Aug 2021 – May 2023). As a graduate assistant, she has been actively involved in developing the low-cost controls laboratory set-up at YSU. She also completed her BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from YSU.
Ghassan Salim is a lecturer in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Youngstown State University. His areas of interest are control systems and signal processing. He holds a BS, an MS, and PhD (ABD) all in electrical engineering. Additionally, he is a registered professional engineer in WV since 2001, and is an active member of IEEE.
Before moving to YSU, Dr. Borra worked as an assistant professor and program coordinator (Computer Engineering Technology) in the Department of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Engineering Technology at California University of Pennsylvania (CALU). Also, prior to CALU, Vamsi was a visiting assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department at the University of Toledo. He also worked as an electrical engineer for Valley Electrical Consolidated Inc. (Girard, OH) before starting my Ph.D. studies.
Dr. Borra served as a chair of the Toledo section’s IEEE Young professionals group. His research interests include characterization and fabrication of electronics materials, controlled whisker growth, thin-film fabrication and characterization, and condensed matter physics-related research. He was recently awarded a patent to mitigate whisker growth Nickel Oxide sublayer.
By and large, the control system theory curriculum in many Engineering schools is limited to computer simulations, mostly because of the limited control lab equipment suppliers and modest resources. The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program’s faculty and graduate students were tasked to design a low-cost system that connects the theoretical concepts learned in class and real-world applications. This system was designed with a modular approach to develop new experiments using the existing system. The developed system is an integration of National Instrument’s (NI) LabVIEW software, NI’s myDAQ (a portable and easy-to-program low-cost data acquisition device), a DC motor with a built-in rotary encoder, and a PCB with the motor drive circuits. The circuit wiring for the whole system has been designed and developed into a PCB design for compactness and ease of use. The students use graphical programming to control the motor and record its response utilizing the myDAQ as an interface between LabVIEW and the DC motor. Lab experiments that emphasize on design, simulation, and development of virtual instruments to implement motor control have been developed. These experiments train students in various topics of control system theory, such as identification, modeling, speed, and position control. The entire system is housed in a 12” X 12” polycarbonate case, for safety and laboratory desk organization purposes. To assess the level of effectiveness of this newly designed control system laboratory, the student performance was assessed using relevant grading rubrics. A student feedback survey was also performed to help improve the learning experience. The developed control laboratory system proved to be a low-cost and effective hands-on learning experience. Students were able to study several DC motor control designs for desired control specifications. Further revisions of the lab instructions and experimental setups have been in progress based on student feedback and instructor observations.
Bhatta, B., & Salim, G., & Borra, V., & Li, F. X. (2023, June), Low-Cost DC Motor Control System Experiments for Engineering Students Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43504
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015